The Blue Lotus
by dooder's nin
Summary: What would you change about yourself for a little while, just to see what it would be like to live differently? A present of a Blue Lotus flower gives Frankie, Jackson and Deuce the chance to explore such a possibility, leading to them learning more about what really makes them who they are and how to appreciate themselves as much as everyone they care for loves them as well.


It was mid-morning at the school and things were going about as usual for everyone. There was a hint of excitement over the upcoming event at the end of the school day that was being promoted as 'Musical Mayhem', a musical competition that was taking the place of the more expected 'Battle of the Bands'. Apparently Holt had put up enough of a fuss and Jackson had actually done the extra paperwork to appeal to their headmistress to allow other talent pieces to be accepted into the competition. Frankie had been impressed at first at how in sync both halves of her boyfriend were becoming, viewing this as a decision and action in harmony with one another. But then she had learned from Heath that Holt was once again making things difficult for his other half to essentially get him to do the apparently more boring work to make the appeal and because the attempt at forming an actual band with his cousin and friends had not gone very well. Heath had explained that Holt very much liked to be in control of the music melody, tempo and whenever he got to mix the lines of music the others were playing. Frankie hadn't been too surprised to learn that for Holt, every moment of practice for the competition qualified as a potential opportunity to show off his stuff, leaving his friends standing on the sidelines in frustration. But, with this new concept, more people had signed up and turned it into a musical talent show and even the girls thought that it might be worth the time out of their day. Draculaura and Clawdeen had signed up to sing a duet, the others planning on going to support them and Abbey with her own version of what she said was common in her village. However, the girls weren't too sure how they were going to pull off expressions of enjoyment at the prospect of hearing her 'throat singing' piece, but were there for their friend nonetheless.

Frankie was standing in the hallway with her friends, waiting for their guys to show up to spend a few minutes with them before heading off on their own ways for classes. Cleo pulled Deuce over to her as she usually did almost as soon as he'd walked up, but Draculaura wasn't much better in how quickly she launched herself at Clawd. Clawdeen rolled her eyes but had gotten used to such antics from her best friend and brother. Clawd passed along to Lagoona that Gil would be there in a minute or two, apparently talking with a teacher about something. But Frankie noticed that Jackson hadn't accompanied the group, looking to see if he'd been standing in Deuce's shadow again. She knew how much he could defend himself, but with the constant jibes from the bullies that still sought him out, she couldn't really blame him for wanting to stick close to his friend. Seeing her questioning look, Deuce shrugged before she could ask.

"I thought he was gonna meet up with us for mid-morning break, but maybe Holt got triggered early and he's off obsessing over the talent show." Deuce said with a shake of his head. He and the others had tried to continue their version of a band, but it just didn't quite work out and Heath ended up being grabbed by his cousin to help him work the equipment for his own performance. But Heath didn't seem to be overly upset at that, finding that his cousin's typical limelight personality also got him a chance to be on stage too. Frankie nodded at Deuce, feeling a little disappointed but not surprised that her boyfriend's other half might forget about hanging out with her with other things on his mind. Holt didn't usually push her aside like that, but she could understand becoming fixated on a project. Draculaura looked about to comment when Jackson came jogging around the corner, no doubt to try and make up for lost time. Frankie smiled as he spotted them and headed over, pulling Frankie into a quick hug.

"Sorry guys. Lost track of time in the lab. Mr. Hackington's getting a load of stuff today and he asked me to look it over – he's got some awesome stuff in there that he said I could use to…to…" Jackson started to explain, trailing off at the looks from his friends. "What?" he asked, Frankie and the other girls giggling.

"Dude, all you ever do is work. Frankie's gonna feel neglected." Deuce teased, Jackson looking to his girlfriend in a mix of concern and panic that he'd done something wrong that she'd felt the need to voice to her friends, which would be how the guys would eventually come to learn whatever gossip they'd shared. But Frankie shook her head, sending a look to Deuce before patting Jackson's arm in reassurance. "He's teasing you Jackson. It's Holt that I'm worried about having an issue today with how he treated the others in your 'band'. You don't think he's gonna go all hard-core again about other people touching his stuff, do you?" she asked.

Jackson sighed at the topic of conversation turning to his other half yet again. "No. Heath promised he'd be there and despite how rude he can be even to him, Holt loves his cousin too. I doubt he'd get _too_ out of hand." Jackson said, not exactly reassuring the others. "Good thing we're not all monster then huh? Imagine what Holt could pull off." Jackson said with a smirk that made him look very much like his alter ego. The others seemed to consider that but Jackson moved on before the topic got too awkward. For some reason, only _his_ issues ever seemed to get pushed to the forefront, but Jackson assumed that the others' monstrous nature made it seem like his was the oddball out of the bunch no matter how strange he may have viewed their problems. But he did remember that one time when Gil and the others hadn't had a clue was what up with Lagoona during that change in the tide that set her on edge.

"Do you think you could help me carry some of the stuff into the lab during next period? Mr. Hackington said he'd give passes to me and anyone else who helps." Jackson asked of Deuce, the gorgon shrugging in agreement to Jackson's request. Jackson looked relieved. "Thanks Deuce. I can carry more than most people think, but there's a lot and another pair of hands will really help." He said, his friend well aware that Jackson could pull off occasional feats of strength. But he also knew that such feats weren't a constant, having to channel whatever Holt's personality was more aware of to do so and that usually made him grumpy.

"I can help." Frankie suggested, but Jackson looked at her skeptically. "Oh come on. You know that I can lift more than you." Frankie said, earning a blush from her boyfriend and a few chuckles from the guys. "Yes Frankie, I am aware of that. The feeble little human is no match for a Frankenstein monster." He sarcastically mumbled to her, earning more chuckles at his expense. "I just didn't think you'd want to help with that sorta thing. You know I have no problem with that – I'm not Heath." He said, looking around the group as though just noticing that he and Abbey weren't among the group.

"I think he's with Manny right now. Or Abbey, but it seems like something is up between those two." Cleo said to Jackson, the boy looking surprised to hear that his cousin and his girlfriend might be having some issues. "I know you're hardly the expert at this sort of thing, but you might want to talk to him." she suggested as they all started to walk toward their classrooms as the first warning bell signaling the end of break went off. Jackson looked offended at the lack of faith in his abilities, but simply rolled his eyes and nodded, Cleo giving her typical smirk before kissing Deuce's cheek and walking off with Clawdeen.

"Not the expert at 'this sort of thing'? What sort of thing is she talking about?" Jackson asked to the his remaining friends, sending a wave to Gil as he briefly stopped to say hi to his girlfriend before heading on his way again. Lagoona also said her goodbyes to her friends as she entered into her classroom too.

"She means advice on love, man." Clawd answered with a shake of his head. Frankie seemed to not be amused at everyone's assessment of her and Jackson's relationship. "We all know how high maintenance Cleo is with her and Deuce's relationship – no offense man." He said, the gorgon shaking his head as he brushed off what everybody already knew. "But with your alter ego and the trouble he gets you into, it seems to require a lot of work. I dunno, maybe that actually does make you an expert for your cousin to talk to." Clawd rambled, Draculaura giggling at her boyfriend's attempt to have a deep conversation with his friend in the span of the time it takes to walk to class. "You know...how many near-death situations he does cause for you? Frankie's gotta be constantly stressed about you too." He said, earning himself a poke from Draculaura as she realized he may have gone too far.

Jackson looked to Frankie who gave him a sheepish smile. "I only worry 'cuz I care about you." She said, Jackson looking gloomy at the blunt realization that his girlfriend may not be as happy in their relationship as he thought. "Hey, I knew what I was getting into after the first time we tried this out." She said, holding onto his arm. Jackson nodded but didn't seem convinced. "Yeah. And you told me the stress was literally tearing your stitches out then." He said, Frankie huffing and shooting a look to Clawd who winced in sympathy at having started another brooding moment for Jackson. Draculaura waved Frankie off, letting her know she'd talk with Clawd as they broke off to enter their classroom, Frankie hearing how Clawd had already begun to defend himself to her.

"Dude, relax." Deuce said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "She hasn't said anything to you about that, has she?" she asked the two of them, Frankie looking to Jackson as she shook her head. "Well then, if Frankie has a problem, she'd let you know. She didn't hold back the first time." Deuce said, Frankie mentally groaning at how Deuce summed up his pep talk. But they'd arrived at the mad science lab hallway and Jackson seemed to be less moody, so she considered it a success. "Jackson. Everything's fine. I promise." She whispered to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on. We were talking about Heath's worries. Let's not make any of our own." She said, patting him on the arm and receiving a short laugh from Jackson.

"Oh good. You brought help." Mr. Hackington said as he handed them slips of paper. "I divvied up who gets what boxes so you can all bring them here without worrying about them exploding." He said offhandedly, Frankie and Deuce blanching at that but Jackson seemed to not be taken aback by that. _No wonder he's got such low self-preservation_, she thought. Holt's continual abuses had desensitized him somewhat and Mr. Hacksington's nonchalant attitude toward danger in the lab clearly made Jackson even less concerned. "I'd stay but I really do have to get to a meeting." He said stating to walk out. "But sir! Are any of these things going to actually explode?" Frankie asked in a panicked voice. "Not if you follow my directions. It's why I wrote 'em out. Any questions you can just ask Jackson. He can handle it, can't ya boy?" he said, patting Jackson a little harder than Jackson had expected, wobbling a little under the force, but his teacher seemed to not notice.

"Oh, wait. What about…?" Jackson asked, pointing out something on his list as he walked alongside him to the door. Deuce and Frankie stood back in confusion as he and their teacher seemed to start talking in a different language. "Guess this is what they call talking shop, huh? Can you understand what they're saying?" he asked. Frankie shook her head, laughing a little. "Oh, good. Not just me then. No wonder I can't understand science class." He said, Frankie nodding in agreement. She could follow some of what Jackson was asking, but she only put so much effort into the sciences that she couldn't keep up throughout the conversation. Mr. Hackington left and Jackson walked back to Deuce and Frankie, handing them another piece of paper.

"Passes back to class, in case he doesn't get back in time." Jackson said, the two taking their passes and pocketing them. "Jackson, has anything ever really badly exploded when you helped carry some stuff in for Mr. Hackington?" Frankie asked, Jackson looking over his shoulder as they walked down the hall to head down to where the boxes had been dropped off. "No. But they could, I guess. There's some potent stuff in there, but I think he just was messing with you." Jackson explained, looking over his paper as they stood around the boxes to determine which order they should be carried up in. "You know…aside from the occasional mishap at a mad science fair or during a class demonstration, there's nothing to be too worried about." He said, picking up one of the boxes and heading back. Frankie and Deuce looked warily at each other before following his lead and taking their boxes, finishing bringing them all up in a matter of minutes. "Okay guys, thanks." Jackson said, huffing a little from overexerting himself. "I can take it from here if you want to head out." He said, going behind the desk and surprising them by taking out a crowbar.

"Dude, what are you doing? What's that even doing in the classroom?" Deuce asked, watching his friend start to try and pry the lid off one of the boxes, working to get the nails off. Seeing the lack of progress, the gorgon sighed and pushed his friend out of the way, taking the crowbar and easing the lid off the box. "Thanks. But I was getting there." Jackson said, Deuce making a noise of mock agreement. "But to answer your question, I'm supposed to get the lids off too and stack the items. Mr. Hackington said that I could come back tomorrow and try out a few experiments with the stuff if I finished up for him. I could even try some of my own unsupervised." Jackson said, looking like a kid in a candy store.

"That's gonna take a while Jackson. Let us help put them away and it'll go much faster." Frankie said, going to the nearest box and using her strength to start to rip the lid off. Jackson shrugged but didn't object and soon enough they'd had all the items out and Jackson had put them where they'd needed to go. "Oh, what's this one?" Frankie asked, holding up what looked like a clear paperweight with a pretty blue flower inside. Jackson looked startled for a moment that she'd picked it up, but then blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah…that was supposed to be a surprise. Mr. Hackington let me order it from the catalog in exchange for doing this for him." He said, walking over to Frankie. "It's a special blue lotus, encased like this for transport. They're grown with scientific purposes in mind but their magical properties are often used in experiments too. I thought it might be something we could both…you know…look into." He said. Deuce laughed from where he stood off to the side at Jackson's attempt to be romantic. Jackson shot him a look but Frankie seemed touched.

"Aww…is that why you tried to make sure I didn't help?" she asked. Jackson nodded but Frankie pulled him into a tight hug. Pulling away, she held it up again for them to look at. "So what does it do?" she asked. Deuce walked over to take a look at the flower, having seen in it in several of Cleo's wall decorations. "Well, I'm not entirely sure. The catalog didn't say all that much…" Jackson started to explain as Deuce held the flower up to look at it closer.

"Whoa, dude…I think I know what this can do." He said, handing it back to Jackson. "Cleo's got it on a few paintings at her house. I think that it's supposed to be able to act as a sort of…identity changer, well, not exactly, like…" he started to say, attempting to explain what he'd picked up. "I mean, it's supposed to be able to temporarily change the makeup of something or someone. That's probably why it was in the mad science chemical catalog. That's pretty cool" he said, Jackson looking eager to test it out too. "I think you only need like a petal or something. Don't think they'd taste too good though." Deuce said, making Jackson laugh as he thought about his friend's culinary tendencies.

"Let's try it out." Frankie said, making to grab the crowbar to smash the storage encasement for the flower. "Whoa. Easy there Frankie." Deuce said as he grabbed it out of her hands. "I'm sure there's an easier and less threatening way to get it out." He said, Jackson nodding and heading back to the cabinets to pull something out. Taking a dropper, he put a little of the chemical onto the container and they watched as it dissolved enough for them to pull the tiny flower out.

"It's so tiny though." Frankie said as she inspected the flower. "I dunno if I want to pull a petal off and ruin it." She said, looking over to Jackson. He smiled at her in response. "Hey. I got it for you. You can decide what you want to do with it." He said. Frankie scrunched up her face as she thought about it but decided that she might as well give it a try. She was curious and it seemed so were Jackson and Deuce. "What would you change about yourself for a little while if you could?" she asked them, but both of them gave her a look like the answer should have been obvious. "Oh, right…" she nervously trailed off. "Well, let's all take a petal and give it a try. I don't want to try it all by myself." She said. Jackson looked nervous at the idea though. "What if it doesn't go very well? Maybe I shouldn't, just in case I need to run for help or something? Or we could wait and do it later?" he suggested but Frankie waved off his concern, handing him and Deuce a petal. He sighed but took it anyway, his own curiosity getting the better of him. They all stood there for a minute, before Frankie took a deep breath and put the petal in her mouth, the boys following her lead.

Swallowing the tasteless petal, she opened her eyes cautiously to see if anything had happened. Seeing the boys standing there unchanged, she slumped her shoulders. "Guess it didn't do anything." Jackson said. "Just as well I suppose. Sorry Frankie. But it's still pretty don't you…." He trailed off, gasping and doubling over.

"Dude, what's happening?" Deuce asked, reaching for his friend before he too cringed, taking off his glasses and rubbing at his eyes. Frankie looked on panicked, before she felt a twisting sensation in her gut, causing her to lower herself to the floor. She held her hands out on front of her and watched as the stitches disappeared and the green skin-tone morphed into the same pink shade of Jackson's. She ran her hands along her arms, feeling how everything became completely connected, breathing deeply as she felt the last portion of the change take over her. She ran her hands across her face, feeling the absence of the scar on her cheek. She laughed in amazement before turning to look at the others. Deuce stood by one of the lab tables, leaning on it but with his glasses in his hand. He was staring at his hand too and she noticed that he wasn't turning himself to stone.

"Deuce!" she called out to him with a wide smile on her face. He turned to her with a smile of his own before his face morphed into one of shock. "Frankie? That's you?" he asked, walking over to help her stand up, Frankie wobbling a little as she got used to her body again. "You look…you wanted to spend a few hours as a human?" he asked. She nodded and he gave a short chuckle. "I wanted to be able to understand more about them. And Jackson." she said, feeling a blush come to her cheeks that felt so different from what normally happened. "Where is Jackson?" she asked, looking around and finding him standing in the corner with a grimace. "Why isn't it working for him?" she asked in concern, Deuce holding her back from rushing over to him. "I think it just is taking longer. Look" he said, Frankie turning back to see Jackson double over once more and watching as it looked like Holt was ripped out of him. She stared at her boyfriend, now two people.

Holt pulled himself up off the floor as Jackson sank down along the wall. "What? I'm…I'm…oh, yes! I'm free!" Holt said, pumping his fists into the air and laughing. He turned to look down at Jackson. "I don't know how you figured it out genius. But this is the best idea you've had yet. Finally!" Holt said, walking away as though nothing had physically drained him. "Frankie-Fine!" He said as he looked at her, making her feel a little self-conscious. "Can't say I approve of the change but come 'ere" He said, pulling her into his arms and giving her a deep kiss that left her breathless and looking as though she'd have fallen off of her legs if they had still been stitched on. "Glad to see you like that." Holt smirked at her. "Guess you'll pick me over that dork in the corner now that we're not so…_dependent_ on one another." He said, holding her close. Frankie couldn't help the blush that continued to redden her face as he held her suggestively.

But Jackson had picked himself up and dragged himself over to where they were standing. "Hate to burst your bubble Holt, but this isn't permanent. That's a miracle I still haven't figured out yet. But today, for a few hours, I get to be curse-free from you." Jackson said, Holt's triumphant smirk slipping a little.

"Well then _make_ it permanent." Holt said, not letting Frankie go. Jackson growled at his alter ego, "I would if I could, _trust me_." He said, finding it eerie to be looking at his face, but not his face.

"Oh, do you feel lost without me?" Holt teased. "No wonder. You can't do anything without me." He said, Frankie struggling to get out of his tight hold as she thought his grip might actually cause bruises on her human skin. "Little Jackson can't stand up for himself." He mocked but Jackson shoved him off of Frankie.

"I can do things just fine on my own. It's you who screws things up beyond repair. You don't care about anything but making yourself feel good. I've had enough of you getting our friends so mad at us." Jackson said.

Holt laughed at Jackson, "Mad at me? Nah uh. That's you. They always ask for me, don't they? Even our own cousin." He said, getting closer to Jackson's face. "_I'm_ the one they all want, normie. I'm fun and you're just a waste of time – and _boring_…" he said.

Jackson didn't ease up out of Holt's face though, standing his ground. "No. I'm _practical_ – you're _delusional_. You're going to get someone other than us hurt or killed one day if you don't pay attention. Not everything's a party Holt." Jackson said.

Frankie and Deuce watched the exchange with growing apprehension, Frankie worried that maybe she should have listened to Jackson's suggestion that he not join in on their experiment. "Whoa, whoa! Time out, you two!" Deuce said, getting between Jackson and Holt. "Is this what's it's like in your head, dude?" Deuce said, doing his best to not look to one over the other. "Yes" they said in unison, crossing their arms and looking away from each other. "You've no idea how obnoxious you are." Jackson muttered. "You never listen to anything I say."

"And yet you keep on saying the same things over and over. I do believe that's a definition of crazy." Holt mocked, earning a growl from Jackson. Deuce put a hand on each boy's chest to keep them from getting into each other's faces again. "Okay. We get that there's always going to be some issues between you two, but for a few hours, you two can do your own thing. So stop arguing and get over yourself." He said, Frankie feeling helpless on how to intervene.

"Fine. I can compromise." Holt said, holding himself straighter as though pretending to be a gentleman. Jackson laughed. "Ha. Since when? Heath and the others aren't in a band with you anymore because of your _oh so magnanimous_ attitude." Jackson said. Holt growled again and looked like he would have liked nothing more than to lunge at Jackson. But Frankie called out to them to get them to stop, standing in shock at finding herself with the same pair of eyes twofold staring back at her intensely. "Well here's a good place to start compromising." Holt said, walking back over to Frankie and holding her to him again. "Stop doing that!" Jackson shouted, but was blocked from advancing by Deuce.

"I'll take her now… and you can do your boring talking with her later." He said, smirking and leaning down to try and kiss her again. Frankie squirmed back, not sure what Holt was implying by 'taking' her, but sure that he needed to cool down before letting him do anything. Jackson however didn't seem to like anything that Holt was saying and gave his own smirk.

"Can't you see? Look at her closely Holt." Jackson said, earning a glare from Holt before he turned back to Frankie. "What am I missin' here Jackson?" Holt said, but Jackson laughed. "What did Frankie turn herself into? Come on now…surely you can figure out which of us she's wanting to learn more about, spend more time with…" he trailed off, waiting for Holt to reach his conclusion. Holt's eyes widened and he held Frankie tighter.

"Oh, I see how it is…" he said. Frankie shook her head and refrained from trying to get out of his grip again and possibly set him off. "No, Holt. You're partly human too. I wanted to understand more about the both of you." She said but Holt looked at her in confusion.

"No I'm not. With him gone, I've got no human in me…" he said. Jackson sighed and shook his head. "Yes you do Holt. Dad's all human, even his Hyde side. We've had this conversation before with each other and with mom and dad." Jackson said, sounding like he was finally easing up as he talked more calmly with his other half. Holt grimaced but found he couldn't really argue with that.

Frankie rested her head on his chest and let her hold him as she consoled him. "Holt, it's okay you're part human. You can see that I really don't mind." Frankie said, cocking her head to the side to get him to take in the fact that she'd turned herself human to emphasize that fact. "And I can spend some time with you later. Let Jackson help me figure out some of the basics of being human." She tried to reason with Holt, who looked like he was bummed but nodded at her anyway. Deuce allowed Jackson out of his block, the other walking over to stand beside Holt as they leaned on the lab table. Frankie pulled herself out of Holt's hold to stand in front of both of them.

"I really do love the both of you with all my heart…oh!" she said, placing a hand on her chest. "I have a real heartbeat now!" she said smiling, both boys laughing at her belated discovery while they watched her learn more about just how much her body had changed. She stood there a moment longer as she felt her heartbeat before she grabbed Jackson's and Holt's wrist. "Whoa…you two really are still connected. Your pulse is in time with each other." She said.

Holt made to jerk his wrist back and deny such a thing but Jackson looked at Holt curiously. Holt sighed as he seemed to read his twin's mind, no doubt having the ability to understand each other better than actual identical twins could. Frankie let go and Jackson and Holt confirmed for themselves how in sync they still were after being torn apart.

"Wonder if that lasts all day. It'll kinda get a little difficult if you decide to go for a run while I'm just sitting here and all of a sudden _my_ heart starts racing too." Jackson said with a grimace on his face at the thought.

"Why don't we find out?" Holt said, getting up and racing after the room before Deuce could stop him. "Holt, wait!" Jackson said, racing after him out into the hallway, following him down to the gymnasium. Frankie looked to Deuce for help, not sure if she could get her legs to be able to run let alone walk fast. But she managed and she and Deuce followed the two of them to the gymnasium, seeing only Jackson standing there with his hand on his knees. Frankie raced over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, I lost him. He's too fast for me to keep up with. Guess he was right about me needing him to tap into that enhanced speed." Jackson said. "I'm athletic on my own but Holt's a monster…well, you know what I mean." He said, Frankie laughing at him. "I think he went outside." Jackson said. Deuce looked around the gym to see if he could spot the boisterous Hyde but agreed to go look outside. "You okay dude?" Deuce asked, wincing as he stepped outside into the sunlight for the first time without his sunglasses on in a while. Jackson nodded and turned to Frankie. "He disproved that idea, I think. _My_ heart's still recovering from that sprint through the school too so I'll get back to you in a minute for sure." He said, giving her a smile as he kidded with her. "Oh, there he is over by Heath in the bleachers." Deuce said, pointing him out to the others. Jackson groaned at the idea of Holt trying to help Heath's girlfriend problems but they walked over to where he and Heath were talking.

"So Abbey's in this funk 'cuz you and Jinafire have been hangin' out more? So what?" Holt was heard saying to Heath. "She can't handle it, too bad. She's an ice monster and you're a fire monster, she's gonna have to get used to you havin' fire-based monster friends too." Holt said dismissively, and Frankie could see Heath was following his every word.

Jackson sighed, "Don't just blow her off Heath. That's a sure way to make sure Abbey doesn't ever want to talk to you again. She'll think you're not taking the time or effort to understand her side of the problem." Jackson said as he sat down on the other side of Heath, causing his cousin to whip his head back and forth quick enough that Frankie was sure he'd give himself whiplash.

"What the…How…you can't be…but…Holy smokes!" Heath rambled, Jackson and Holt laughing in unison at their cousin's antics. "You need to stop doin' things the same time I do them." Holt said to Jackson as he caught onto their unison again.

"Hey I can find things funny too. And if you didn't take off, then we wouldn't be in this situation." Jackson said, Heath just looking confused until he took a hold of both of their hands as though to make sure they were both solid.

"Sorry to surprise you like that Heath." Deuce said, worried about how their jumpy friend might handle this. "Heck of a surprise. What did they…ahh!" Heath said as he looked up to his friend, only to panic and cover his head as he realized the gorgon wasn't wearing any glasses.

"Smooth Heath…." Jackson said, Holt laughing. Heath looked up at Deuce's unamused face when he realized he hadn't been turned to stone by his friend again. "Whoa…what did you three do? Frankie?" he asked incredulously, eying the black and white hair, two-toned eyes and Frankie's typical dress. "Yeah, it's me. We did a little…experimenting in the mad science lab. We'll explain on the way back to class. We need to get back before the period's actually over." She said, urging the others to get up.

"Aww, Frankie…" Holt said before coming to a realization. "Hey wait…I ain't got to go to no class. That's somethin' you handle for us." Holt said to Jackson. "Break's over. How'd my little experiment go for ya?" he teased Jackson. "Depends…is yours still a little fast too?" he asked. Holt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, when _we_ are _me_, my pulse _is_ usually faster – more to be excited over than your stupid stuff. I think I just needed to do somethin' to get fully awake." Holt said, jogging off. Jackson was tempted to go after him, shouting for him to be careful, but waited a little longer before doing anything.

"Nope. Not connected like when we first separated. Otherwise my heart should be beating much faster at the speed he's going." Jackson said in answer to Frankie's questioning look. Frankie looked relieved at that, Jackson getting up from his seat next to his cousin. "But you're right. Let's get back to class. This ought to be interesting." Jackson said. Heath still looked incredibly confused but Jackson pulled him up and guided him back inside the school.

Heath may have been on a free period, but it seemed he was letting Jackson bring him to class with him in his still shocked state. Walking into the classroom, Deuce was the first to enter, looking actually eager to be getting to class. The teacher had turned his back to the class as he wrote on the chalkboard but turned when he heard Deuce telling him about their passes. He turned to take them from their hands and came to see what it was that had shushed the murmurs that always floated through the classroom. "What…Mr. Gorgon…your glasses…" Mr. Rotter said, flinching a little as he realized that the gorgon had been looking at him without eye protection. Deuce gave him a genuine smile before looking over to Cleo, seeing her with her mouth dropped in surprise. "Yeah…isn't it cool?" he asked, as their teacher numbly took the pass from his student's hand as Deuce went to sit beside his girlfriend who immediately bombarded him with questions.

Shaking his head, Mr. Rotter looked back to the other students, Heath seeming to realize he'd been dragged into a class he didn't have to go to. He tapped on Jackson's shoulder and whispered something to him. "Young lady, I am not sure what you are doing here. I was not informed of another human enrolled at the school. Is Jackson your guide for the day?" he asked, Frankie giggling.

"Mr. Rotter, can't you recognize me? Heath did." She said, looking highly amused as the others recognized her voice. Jackson rolled his eyes but placed her pass and his on the teacher's desk before making to guide her back to the desks. He was about to say goodbye to Heath who had stuck around only to see the others' reactions, when the door burst open.

"Yo! I ain't got our phone. I need it for somethin'" Holt said as he barged in, walking over to Jackson.

Jackson groaned, "Why? You're gonna break it again. I need it too." he said, but Holt wasn't going to be patient. He tried to reach into the pocket he knew Jackson kept their phone but Jackson struggled with him to keep his hand away.

"Come on. You'll get it back…maybe. I need it to keep the music goin'" He said, succeeding in getting Jackson to stand still as he twisted his arm.

"Holt. Think about it…you don't actually need your headphones to play music at all times." He said, slumping in defeat as Holt finally got his prize. He let Jackson go, his attention on the phone.

"So? I want it that way. I always do what I want." He said, smirking at his twin who glowered at him.

"Yeah…we all know." Jackson said. "Whatever you're getting yourself into, don't wreck yourself. You and I are gonna be one again in a few hours." Jackson warned as he took his seat.

"Aw…don't remind me." Holt whined. "It's why I ain't gonna stick around here with you if I can help it. See ya Frankie." He said to her, giving her a sly wink that caused her to blush. "Come on Heath. I'm getting' bored. Let's go find somethin' more entertaining. If the normie knows what's good for him, he'll find a way to make this stick. Now come on!" he said, repeating himself as he wrapped an arm around his cousin's shoulders and dragging him out of the classroom.

"What is going on?" Mr. Rotter asked, irritation in his voice as he recovered from the spectacle that had gone down in his room, the others just as stunned. "You three, head to Headmistress Bloodgood's now." He said. Deuce shrugged but gave his girlfriend a kiss as Cleo smiled back at him, the two sharing a look into each other's eyes that they hadn't been able to do without something needing to be in the way. Frankie groaned but Jackson leaned forward onto his desk and got up without complaint. The three of them walked out of the classroom, Frankie walking beside Jackson and resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sure things will be just fine." She said, Deuce making a sound of agreement.

"Dude, whatever punishment she might give us is worth it." He said with a content smile on his face. "Even if we have to spend the rest of the day in detention – which I really hope we don't have to do – that kiss with Cleo was worth it." He said, earning an 'awww' from Frankie at how romantic he sounded. They walked up to the headmistress' door and knocked, hoping that she wouldn't be in her office and they could just forget having to meet with her. But she opened up the door, staring wide-eyed at them before ushering them inside.

"There better be a very good story behind all this." She said, sitting down at her desk with her head resting on it. "How did you do this to yourselves Deuce, Frankie? How are you involved Jackson?" she asked in a tone that left no room for floundering around for an excuse.

"Jackson got me a blue lotus flower. One with magic properties that change – _temporarily_ – certain qualities of a person. Deuce and I wanted to try it out and I kinda dragged Jackson into trying it out. Holt's out and about with Heath right now." Frankie rushed to explain, throwing the blame entirely on herself.

"No. It's my fault – I got the flower for her." Jackson said, although she noticed he sounded less confident about himself than he usually did. He was normally shy but he was sounding almost timid in asserting himself, like he couldn't get himself to care enough to try. Headmistress Bloodgood closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself. "It's not permanent? How soon will it wear off? Before or after I have to call your parents and explain?" she asked. That got Jackson's full attention.

"Oh, no. Please don't do that…it'll only last a couple of hours. Probably around the time of the…oh no…" Jackson trailed off, closing his eyes as he realized what might happen. Headmistress Bloodgood looked at them for more answers, Jackson rubbing his face in frustration. "It should probably be reversing itself around the time of the 'Musical Mayhem' talent competition right after school. Ugh…this could get ugly if Holt puts up more of a fight than I'm expecting." Jackson groaned. "He can stay out forever for all I care. But I haven't told him what gave us this reprieve from each other. He might just eat the whole flower and then really put us in danger. I'm sorry headmistress. I don't know of any side effects if it takes longer to wear off or something." Jackson said to her, their headmistress sighing.

"Fine. Go about your day then like usual. There doesn't seem to be anything to keep you from being able to do that. But be careful. Reverting back to your normal selves might not be pleasant or might sneak up on you. This goes especially for you Deuce. Don't want you turning the whole auditorium into statutes if you're suddenly back to your old self." She said, Deuce nodding glumly. "And you will need to take care of yourself too Frankie. Being human is a lot more of an experience than I think you understood. Let Jackson help you out some." She said, Frankie nodding and ecstatic at being allowed to use this opportunity like she wanted. With that she dismissed them, the bell ringing for them to get to their next period.

"Home Ick next, right?" Jackson asked as he walked alongside Frankie, the two of them getting a few strange looks from passing students. She nodded and they followed Deuce to their classroom, briefly stopping at their lockers. Frankie looked herself over in the small mirror she kept in her locker, giggling as she took in her new appearance. She'd always been curious about all different kinds of monsters, but it seemed like humans had been her main interest. Jackson had been happy to provide her with answers to any questions or to defer her to his dad, sometimes even bringing her with him to meet his human friends from the town or from past schools. But now she felt like this was her chance to really get to explore another perspective and not just hear about it or read about it. She hurried to gather her things, realizing that Jackson would be returning soon from his locker to walk her to class. Frankie remained optimistic that she could prove to herself and to Jackson that there wasn't anything she couldn't handle as a human.

* * *

Getting situated in class was a little more of a spectacle than usual as the girls began to bombard Frankie with question after question over her new appearance. Jackson was pretty much left alone, the others not finding anything particularly out of the ordinary for him aside from the fact that they had heard about Holt running around on his own. The guys had made a few comments about that, but it seemed Deuce's new look was of far more interest to everyone, the gorgon looking happier than he'd been in a while with being able to not have to hide a portion of his face from his friends. Jackson noticed that he even had forgone his usual attempts to get in some cooking on the side during class in favor of simply sitting with Cleo, who had been running her fingers through his snakes. He forced himself to look away, a blush starting to color his cheeks as he realized that the two of them would soon be making an excuse to both leave the classroom to have some time alone. It wasn't more than a couple of periods until lunch but with how soon the effects could wear off, he didn't blame his friend for wanting to use every second of his newfound liberty. The teacher also seemed to pick up on that, refusing their first efforts to leave class until they had at least finished a portion of their work before letting them go. Frankie and the other girls chuckled as their friends left ten minutes before class was to end, amazed that they'd managed to last so long before trying again to leave to be alone with each other. But it seemed Deuce had made cooking with Cleo an experience in itself, Clawdeen rolling her eyes every time she'd look over and seen them standing so close to each other. The excuse of having to meet with another teacher for something was hardly Cleo's best excuse, but the teacher had long had enough of watching them, possibly a little unsettled at the thought that the gorgon could at any minute revert back to his old self and turn them all to stone.

"Wow." Clawdeen said with a shake of her head. "If we have to watch them make goo-goo eyes at each other all day, I think I'm gonna be sick." She said, Draculaura laughing at her friend. "I mean, I get that Deuce might not get another chance to make those eyes at her without getting a decorative piece for his lawn, but still….a time and a place." She said. Frankie laughed at her friend's comments, not going to admit that she might have found them to be a little overbearing at times too. It was a shame that Lagoona and Abbey had missed their little show. She knew that she'd made a mess of things a few times too with trying to simply handle things with the way things were suddenly the same and yet so different. Jackson had been patient with her, a fact that she was very grateful for.

She and Jackson were cleaning up their table in preparation to head out, Frankie having a hard time with the clingy apron. Getting it off, she found her hair sticking to it from static that had built up. "It's funny how that happens. It happened before but it's just, not the same." Frankie said to Jackson as she felt the tiny shocks from the static buildup. "Grrr…it won't stop sticking to me." She said as she found herself with the cloth rubbing against her again. Jackson laughed but helped her as she struggled with the apron. "Easy Frankie. You and electricity are supposed to be good friends." He teased her as she tried to get her hair back into place. "You just get your books and I'll finish up." Jackson offered but Frankie waved him off. "I can help. I'm human not an invalid – you of all people shouldn't be giving me pity help." She said, Jackson shrugging.

"Just trying to help – no don't touch that!" Jackson said as he saw Frankie reaching toward the outlet to unplug their equipment. It was still on and with the small amount of static buildup, her disconnecting it sent a small shock to her. "Oh…ow…" she gasped, shaking her hand as she pulled away, knocking into the edge of the table and nearly falling down. Jackson dropped the utensils he had been carrying to catch her before she hit the floor, although her arm scraped the edge of a bottom cabinet handle. "Ow…." Frankie said as Jackson helped ease her back into a standing position, looking at her hand. Turning her hand over in his own, Jackson guided her over to the faucet to run some cool water on it. "Is that what happens every time I shock you?" she asked him. Jackson shrugged but didn't say anything. "Jackson." Frankie said in a stronger voice.

Jackson sighed but looked at her with a guilty look. "It's not that bad. It's the first time you've ever been on the receiving end and not had something to ground the charge. It's fine Frankie." He said, hoping to console what he knew was to become a guilty ramble. "Your hand might sting for a few minutes but other than that, it's just a little shock." He said, handing her a small towel. She took it but didn't say anything, drying her hand. He looked over to Clawdeen and Draculaura to come over, the two having watched the whole incident. They picked up on what he was trying to convey and came over, making small talk to keep Frankie's focus on something else while Jackson finished cleaning up quickly.

The four of them walked out of class, Frankie still a little glum at learning first-hand what her shocks felt like to Jackson. She'd had plenty of experience with her charge getting messed up now and then with water getting onto her bolts, but that discomfort wasn't the same as having the electricity pass into and out of her instead of being redirected like it normally did. "Frankie, stop worrying. You're fine now, right? No more tingling or pain?" Jackson asked, Frankie shaking her head. "See. Like I told you – just a little shock. You're going to miss out on the rest of the day if you mope about this." He said, Frankie sighing but realized he was right. She pulled him into a hug which he returned with a smile. "Now go enjoy your physical deaducation period – swimming should be a whole new experience for you. Holt might even be there." Jackson said, thinking over what Holt's schedule was like when it was him out for the day. Holt had his own schedule made for him, but Jackson wasn't too sure whether or not he actually stuck to it, especially for today. Frankie nodded against him and pulled away, Clawdeen and Draculaura waiting for her a little way down the hall. "Where are you going to be?" Jackson smiled at her and pointed over his shoulder down the hallway where he had his next class. She laughed at her stupid question, turning to wave to him as she headed down the hallway with her friends.

"Frankie, relax. Jackson's right." Draculaura said, locking arms with her friend as they headed to class. Frankie nodded but then a thoughtful look crossed her face. "How bad does it hurt you guys when that happens?" she asked. She'd seen the faces they made, but they seemed to recover quickly. Clawdeen rolled her eyes but Draculaura continued before their friend could make a sarcastic comment.

"Frankie. It's fine. It's nothing we can't handle and we tell you when it's really hurting us so you can back away. Don't worry so much, especially since it's a part of what makes you who you are." Draculaura said, Frankie sending her a grateful smile. The vampire gave her friend a quick hug before pulling her towards the locker rooms to get ready for their swim class. They changed as quickly as they could, Lagoona meeting up with them, sharing the same look of surprise at Frankie's new appearance. Frankie was explaining to her as they walked over to the pool, the girls getting in at the shallow end out of habit for their water-resistant friend.

"Hey…this is actually nice." Frankie said, cutting off her explanation mid-sentence as she registered the lack of the familiar zing that she had to get tolerant of before she could actually start partaking in class. She and everyone else in the pool had learned the hard way that she shouldn't just jump in with Lagoona in the deep end. Her sea monster friend chuckled at her reaction, nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah it is mate. Glad you get to find that out." She said, Frankie taking a deep breath and submerging herself. She resurfaced quickly, wiping her hair out of her face but smiling.

"This is great. The water just flows around and right off me and…and…I don't have to worry about taking frequent breaks to dry my bolts off." She said, glad to be rid of the protective coverings she usually had to stick onto her bolts to try and keep as much moisture away from them as possible when in the pool. Lagoona smiled at her friend's enthusiasm, knowing how difficult swimming usually was for her and how much she dreaded that one day of the week their instructor made them get in the pool. Frankie was lazily swimming on her back, enjoying the feel of the water that she didn't have to be careful around. Lagoona shook her head in fondness, wondering how her friend managed to take showers if she had such a hard time with the pool and figuring she had to go through the same sort of precautions.

She was about to make a comment to Frankie and the other girls when a large splash from someone deciding to do a cannonball into the center of the ball had her scrambling to make sure Frankie was alright. She and Clawdeen got to her before Draculaura, Frankie waving off their concern but looking a little tossed about. The cause of all the chaos soon resurfaced, fiery red hair shaking to get rid of the water droplets that clung to it, and large smile covering his blue face. "Holt! Would you watch what you're doing?" Lagoona shouted to him, although she knew that such comments wouldn't really ever get through to him. She turned to Frankie with an irritated look on her face. "I thought you said Jackson was out? Holt doesn't normally have this period for swimming. I only got to stick around to make up a missed lesson. How come the trouble-maker decided to join us today?" she asked.

Frankie looked a little nervous as she thought up a way to break the news to her friend about Jackson and Holt being separate people for a few hours. But Holt decided to intervene, coming up behind Frankie and knocking Draculaura to the side. "Hey Frankie-Fine…come on and swim with me. I can teach you all sorts of tricks underwater." He said, earning himself a blush from his girlfriend as he flirted with her.

"Thank you Holt, but I think I might be a better teacher for Frankie today." Lagoona said, wondering what he may have done to their instructor to get himself into the pool since she hadn't shown up yet. "No, I promised him I'd spend some time with him. Now's as good a time as any, but thank you Lagoona." Frankie said, swimming over to her friend. "But maybe you could, uh, hang around for a bit?" she whispered, her friend giving her a nod. Holt urged her to come over to him and Frankie left her group of friends.

"Holt, this is the girls' time in the pool. It's an all-girls' class today. What are you doing here?" Frankie asked as she tried to keep up with her boyfriend's long strokes. Holt laughed, stopping to float before answering her. "Like you said – it's an all-girls class. Why wouldn't I want to stop by?" he kidded with her, earning himself a splash to the face from Frankie. "Alright, alright…you know you're the only ghoul I want." He said, shooting her a smile. "But I got kicked out of the music room for interruptin' one too many times or somethin'. Heath had to get to class and I was gettin' bored so I thought I'd find you. Figured swimmin' ain't a waste of time either if I got nothin' else to do." He said, Frankie giving him a smile.

"How is Heath? Did you talk to him again about Abbey?" she asked, huffing when Holt started up his aggressive swimming again. She wasn't used to this kind of exercise in the pool, and her human body had different limits that she was still adjusting to. "I talked with him. Man can he whine…but we came up with a surefire way to get Abbey to listen to him." He said, making Frankie worry. "Holt, what did Heath come up with?" she asked warily, well aware that the elemental's short attention span often led to him only halfway thinking a lot of his 'big ideas' through and giving them all trouble. Holt just gave her a smirk that didn't settle her nerves.

She wanted to argue with him more, but she was feeling her leg cramp up. She called out for Holt to take a break but the Hyde wasn't one for slowing down anything he did and she found herself attempting to keep afloat with a little more difficulty than before. "Lagoona!" she cried out as she went under, her leg giving her a hard time as she tried to kick properly. Her friend had been standing next to their instructor at the edge of the pool, who looked like she'd been shoved into a closet if the way she'd been ruffled up was any indication. But at Frankie's voice, she looked over and was about to dive in to help her when Holt was suddenly by Frankie's side and lifting her head above the water.

"Whoa…calm down Frankie. Panicking only makes it worse." He said as he swam her over to the side, Frankie holding to wall as tightly as her panicked and tired state would allow her. "Okay…hey, I've got ya'" Holt said, letting her use him to keep herself out of the water more. "Let's get you out and we can take a break. We'll find somethin' else to keep ourselves occupied." Holt said, allowing Lagoona to help Frankie out of the water, Frankie doing her best to get in deep breaths. Lagoona sat her beside her on the bleachers, stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down.

"I…I….I don't know why I'm still….shaking….My leg cramped up faster than I've had it ever do that before…actually, I don't think it's ever cramped up like that before." She said, reaching out for Holt once he climbed out of the pool and sat next to her. "I tried to keep up with you. Guess I can't really swim that well after all." She said, leaning against Holt's shoulder. Lagoona gave her a sympathetic smile. "Hey now, it's alright. No harm done, just a scare. What do you expect at Monster High?" she tried to kid with her friend. Seeing Frankie leaning into her boyfriend, she looked to Holt to make sure he could handle her and got a confident nod from him. "I'll let you talk it out with Holt, okay. Shout for me if you need me though. I'll come runnin', okay?" Lagoona said, Frankie giving a nod and accepting the towel Lagoona draped around her before walking away to get back into the pool.

Holt held her closer and she could feel his elemental abilities being directed at her to warm her up. "Thanks Holt." She said, Holt giving her a tight squeeze to her arm. "I'm still shaking a little. And my heart is beating so fast. It's so weird to feel that." She said, grabbing Holt's hand and holding it to her chest. "I swear it's what's shaking my whole body and not from just being cold. Being human is so different." She said, Holt looking as though he wasn't sure what to do with his hand at the moment, Frankie still holding it to her chest. "It's not me imagining things is it? I wouldn't know if I'm over-exaggerating." She said to Holt who shook his head.

"Nah…getting a good scare will do that. I can feel it Frankie. Funny how usually it's the other way around for us in this position." Holt said, Frankie smiling at him. "I think you can get out of swimmin' for the rest of the period. Why don't you head back with me?" he asked, giving her a large smile that she knew meant he was up to something. But Frankie wasn't too eager to leave, convincing Holt to let them take a few more laps to get over her being a little shaken up. Lagoona swam close by too, Frankie touched by how much her friends cared as Clawdeen and Draculaura also stuck close by and Holt made an effort to slow down. But he'd been kicked out of the pool almost as soon as he'd gotten back in by the instructor who hadn't been pleased that Holt had locked her in one of the supply closets. Frankie had laughed at that image, but thought that seemed a little much for Holt's usual mischievous nature, wondering if he'd been more than just bored when he'd gotten to the pool. But she did follow his suggestion and the instructor allowed her to head to the locker rooms a little early to let her compose herself in some privacy.

* * *

Cleo and Deuce had spent the next period doing pretty much the same as the last, Deuce asking the teacher if they could go to the library to get some research for their project done during class time since it seemed the next teacher was just as unsettled by the change in Deuce as the last and had given her students the second half of the period to work on their projects due in two weeks. That allowed them the chance to spend more time alone. "I still can't believe you did that just for me." Cleo said with a genuine smile. "I know I'm just that wonderful and deserve such extravagant gifts, but still…" she said, Deuce laughing at her typical behavior.

"Cleo, you're worth it." He said, leaning in to kiss her again as they sat on the windowsill in one of the more less-used areas of the library. "I don't know how long it will last though, but I don't want to waste any time. It's awesome to not have to see you through some tinted lenses. You're even more beautiful you know." He said. Cleo laughed and snuggled against the gorgon, his snakes teasing her hair as they tried to reach her with their limited range. "I know…I do my best." She said in a tone meant to sound like false humility but Deuce knew that she really did put a lot of effort into trying to be the best at everything in order to live up to her father's expectations and her sister's standards.

"I haven't told you yet, but I've been looking through some of my father's old scrolls and stela to see if I can find anything to do with gorgons. I'm sure that there's got to be something about how to counter that ability of yours without having to get rid of it." Cleo said thoughtfully. "But so far no luck. I might be able to use one of the various idols to temporarily render me unable to be turned to stone, but nothing to keep it up for long." She said, turning to look up at Deuce's face. "But as great as this is, I don't actually want you to change. We've been handling things just fine. I kind of like having you be all big and brooding now and then. Girls like their guys to be like gentle giants." She said with a laugh. Deuce rolled his eyes and she found herself unable to keep from looking into them. Her heritage may include snake charming traditions, but she found that it might be ironic how opposite things ended up being as he held her close.

"Okay Cleo. But I'm not that bad." He said, Cleo laughing at how jealous he could actually get when he thought she might have had another guy flirting with her and would 'accidentally' sneak a peek at the guy. "And I appreciate the effort, but like you said. I don't know if I'd be me still if we did something to block that part of me permanently – I don't think that's even possible without, you know, gouging my eyes out. Even in that awful normie story, the gorgon's severed head still turned people to stone." He said, grimacing a little at the thought of that particular story. Cleo also didn't look too pleased to be bringing that topic up, holding her own neck. "Besides, I should eventually be able to control it better. Or so says my mom. She's often comparing me to my cousins about that – I think she thinks it's encouraging me to know that if they can figure it out then I should be able to at some point. Just gotta figure out how to avoid turning myself to stone if I look in a mirror." He lightheartedly said to her, Cleo laughing along with him.

"It does keep you still for a little while. You and those extreme sports you get into with Clawd and Heath do take up valuable time that you could be spending with me." She teased, wrapping her arms around his neck. Deuce laughed at that, responding with his own quip. "I can't help it any more than you and those shopping sprees with the girls. You can use all sorts of enchantments but you can't make guys want to shop if they could be doing something else. Not that I don't like to follow you around at the maul…" he trailed off as she arched her eyebrow at him, signaling a potential tell off from his girlfriend. He did find it amazing how she could quite easily remind him of her royal heritage without having to actually say anything, her body language saying it all for him.

"Besides, we don't get into trouble all that often." He defended himself. Cleo rolled her eyes at him, pulling away a little to look at him better. "Oh, please. Yes you do. How many times have you tried to hide it from me and still you fail to realize my superior observational skills. I am a princess after all. It's necessary to be able to pick up on these things." She said. Deuce let his head lean up against the window, lifting it quickly when he heard one of the snakes on his head give a hiss as he leaned against it, allowing it the chance to slither away before he rested against the wall again. "They're getting long again." Cleo said as she pet the snakes fondly, Deuce still a little leery that they might strike out at her although it hadn't happened yet.

"Oh, yes. What about all those plentiful peasants not worthy of your time?" he said, quoting her from a few occasions when she'd been particularly snobbish over something. She wasn't as bad as her sister or her father but the millennia of experience in thinking and behaving a certain way that was 'befitting royalty' such as the de Niles had created a certain attitude. But Cleo's friends knew that there was more to her than that shallowness, Deuce experiencing the little things she'd do for him to brighten up his day.

"Oh, that's not the same. You've gotten yourself banged up as many times as Jackson whenever he attempts to join in, excluding the stone interruptions to your games." Cleo scoffed, waving her hand dismissively as she quickly turned the conversation back to his follies. Deuce shook his head at how easily she could do that, admiring her diplomatic skills. "Besides, peasants are unfortunately necessary and may not be _so_ bad." She said with a smile, letting him know that she was playing with him, even if there were times when she'd say the opposite with absolute conviction in her perceived inadequacy of others' help in regards to her higher expectations of attaining perfection. But Deuce didn't mention it, knowing that she couldn't help being a perfectionist any more than he could completely stop having his petrifying ability. Cleo leaned into him again and he wrapped an arm around her, not sure what else they could do with this rare opportunity for him to be without that lingering worry at the back of his mind.

"You alright?" Cleo asked when Deuce began to rub at his eyes. The gorgon could hear the wariness in her voice and looked back over to her. She involuntarily flinched, no doubt having expected his ability to have come back full force and be turned to stone again. It had only happened twice, but Deuce had felt extremely guilty about it. She'd been plenty angry the first time, letting him shower her in gifts and adoration for as long as she deemed sufficient, but the second time she'd tried to get him to stop repeatedly apologizing at every hour of the day and simply basked in the extra care he'd taken in being around her.

"Yeah…it's just…my eyes are starting to get itchy and dry." Deuce said, blinking a few more times in succession to try and ease the stinging in his eyes. "I hope it's not gonna be over so soon. We didn't really get to do anything together." He said, knowing how much Cleo typically liked to show off their activities and relationship status with the whole school, a fact he'd come to tolerate even if only so that it was obvious Cleo had chosen to be with him.

"You know, even if it is almost over, I think we did everything that would have really mattered." Cleo said, kissing Deuce on the cheek and gaining herself a small blush from her boyfriend. "I'm flattered that you would do this for me. How did you? I can't believe I haven't asked yet." She said. Deuce shrugged in response. "Jackson ordered a special blue lotus from some mad science catalog as a surprise for Frankie. It was small and only had a few petals on it and Frankie wanted to try it out, but you know how she is, she didn't want to do it alone and not share with her friends." Deuce explained, Cleo's eyes widening as he spoke. "Jackson thinks it'll be done by mid-afternoon. Either during or after the 'Musical Mayhem' thing Holt's been getting ready for all day now that he's not waiting for himself to be triggered."

"Deuce, are you sure it was a blue lotus?" Cleo asked, worrying her bottom lip. "Did you never hear of the lotus eaters? Come on Deuce, that's from your mother's scaritage." Cleo said, getting a little worked up. Deuce's eyes widened as he recalled the vague recollections of some of his mother's bedtime stories. "Yeah, but that wasn't the same lotus. This was an Egyptian lotus." He said, attempting to brush off his girlfriend's worry. Cleo rolled her eyes and gently smacked her boyfriend on the arm. "Even the hyperboreans know of that Deuce. I appreciate how much you wanted to be able to be like this for us, but those flowers can be addictive and you don't even realize it. I…may have had one once, a long time ago, when I really wanted to look like Nefera…like I said, a _long_ time ago and I wasn't thinking clearly…" she trailed off at his incredulous look at the mention of wanting to really emulate her older sister. "It worked and it was so tempting to just keep eating the petals of the blue lotus to keep myself that way, but eventually my father caught on when he decided to pay attention to Nefera and I again and caught me before I'd lost myself to that other version of myself that I wanted to create." Cleo explained, gesturing wildly as she tried to quickly explain to her boyfriend the point she was trying to make. "It's great the first time, but the side effects are still the same. Please be careful not to lose who you really are. I don't want you to become, I dunno, blind or something because of this. Or lose any of your abilities and become handicapped." Cleo said, clinging to him tightly as she thought of horrible ways that things could backfire.

"Well, neither of those were a part of the image I wanted of myself so I think we're good." Deuce said, attempting to keep his voice from shaking at the ideas his girlfriend was throwing at him rapidly. "I just wanted my eyes not to be able to turn anything I looked at into stone." He said, rubbing at them again only to have Cleo keep him from itching his irritated eyes.

"Wait, let me see." She said, holding his face with her hands and looking into his eyes. "Your rubbing them is making them red, but they don't look any different." She said, Deuce finding his girlfriend's worried face staring back at him. "I don't know for sure, I mean, I haven't really seen them like this before…but there's a hint of gray in your green eyes, right?" she asked, Deuce standing up and nearly knocking her over in his panic. He picked up her bag and began riffling through for her compact mirror, ignoring Cleo's cries of what was wrong. Opening it he found that a part of his reptilian green eyes that resembled malachite, had veins of gray running through. He blinked again, feeling as though there was something in his eyes. He went against what Cleo had just said, rubbing his eyes again.

"Deuce! Listen to me!" Cleo said, a note of worry filtering into the authoritative tone she'd taken in an attempt to get him to listen. Pulling his hand away, Deuce noticed something on his hand. Cleo gasped, as they both looked at what looked like gray sand on his hand. Cleo grasped her boyfriend's face again to get him to look at her. "There's…stone…in your eyes. Deuce, I think we might know a side effect." Cleo said slowly. "That stone that the petal is holding back might warp how you see things. Just…stop rubbing them and it might not get too bad." Cleo tried to soothe her boyfriend, launching herself into him and forcing him to wrap her arms around her. "It'll be okay. It's just for a few hours. And for all we know, I could be wrong and it'll be just as good as the last hour. Let's just take things as they come." Cleo said, Deuce sighing and holding her tighter to him.

"Sorry Cleo. I didn't mean to cause any more problems. I just wanted to see you without the glasses." He said, sounding pathetic as they stood between stacks of books. "But we can still get to spend the rest of the day together, right?" he asked, Cleo nodding against him. "Let's hope nothing too bad happens to Frankie or Jackson…or Holt." He said, allowing Cleo to guide him out of the library as they went to search for something for Deuce's drying eyes. If there was anti-venom on hand just in case his snakes bit someone on campus, then she was sure they'd at least have eye drops on hand for the gorgon to use. But both of them continued to think about Deuce's last comment, unsure of how they might go about finding and telling the others about what they'd learned.

* * *

Frankie hurried up to get out of the locker room, unsure if Holt might follow her into the room to see what might be taking her so long. She wouldn't put it past him, but he did seem concerned enough to not taunt the instructor again when she'd thrown him out of the pool, even though he probably would have made more of a fuss considering that he did seem to actually like to spend time at the pool. Frankie had often wondered about that, given that he was more aware and in control of his and Jackson's fire elemental abilities from his mother's side, and Heath didn't seem particularly enthused about getting in the pool for longer than necessary. She supposed he thought it was another way for him to be difficult if he went against the expected norms people had concerning fire elementals, Holt being unique in his split personality. Stepping out of the locker room, still adjusting her shoes, she found Holt reclining by the doors to the school grounds.

"Ugh…About time! I was gonna fall asleep out here waitin'" he teased, Frankie rolling her eyes at his impatience. "Don't know why you take so long. You look great with or without all that." He said, gesturing vaguely to her. She felt herself blush at what may or may not have been intended as another flirt with her, but walked over to give him a hug anyway.

"Well, I'm glad you waited. How about we walk to class with a shortcut outside. I haven't gone outside yet like this." She said, snuggling up against Holt even though it seemed he was a little rougher than usual with her. Frankie was about to ask him to ease up on his grip, but thought better of it, attributing it to his usual unrestrained behavior on overload with given the chance to be completely himself for a little while. Holt smiled and pushed the door open, holding it open for Frankie to walk outside.

The two of them wandered slowly around the building to get to the courtyard by the creepateria, knowing that it was nearing lunch. Frankie spun around as she felt the way the wind and the sun was different than how she normally felt them, yet not so extreme as to be completely alien. Holt laughed at her antics, picking her up and spinning her around in the air as she giggled. He tossed her up in the air again as though she weighed nothing. "Okay, Holt. That's enough. You're making me dizzy." Frankie laughed as he set her on the fountain rim. "Aw…but you're not gonna fall apart now if I toss you around." He whined, Frankie wondering he might just start up again despite her protests. She pulled him to her, resting her head on top of his and running a hand through his hair.

"You know…you've got a soft heartbeat Frankie." Holt said, pulling Frankie closer to him. "It suits you." He said, making Frankie blush. "Uh oh…did I embarrass you?" Holt teased pulling away and looking up to Frankie who realized she'd given herself away by having him so close. "There are other ways than a good scare to get your heart pounding. A good party mix and dancin' will do the trick, but so will this…" he said, surprising Frankie as he pulled her off the ledge of the fountain to swing her around and place an intense kiss on her lips. Frankie scrambled to back away from him. "As much as I enjoy kissing you Holt, that seems to be the only thing we've done so far since you've been out on your own. Don't you…mmph…" she said, cut off as Holt captured her lips once again, pushing her back into the shaded area and away from the windows of the school.

"Come on now Frankie. I don't get to be like this for too long. Let me do what I want." He bargained with her, although she noticed that his look didn't seem like it left much room for an alternative. "Plus, you can't deny you like bein' with me out here than in that stuffy school with the normie. We find a way to make this permanent and when you get back to your pretty self we can take off. I'm old enough to say I've had enough of this school stuff and I can easily get myself a gig – or put someone else out of a gig to make a job opening." He said, chuckling at the idea. Frankie blanched at his proposal though, scooting away a little before he pulled her back to him, running a hand through her hair. She shivered at the touch, inadvertently giving Holt the satisfaction he'd been looking for. "Holt. You know staying in school will only help your chances at a music career." She said. "You've been working on that temper of yours. Don't do something stupid. You shouldn't…oh, don't do that." She said, although it didn't sound like she really wanted Holt to stop massaging her shoulders and leaning into her.

"I shouldn't what?" Holt said with another deep chuckle. "I'm free. I can do whatever I want without that nagging little voice that pops up every now and then when I'm _me_ that gets in the way sometimes." He said, Frankie understanding that he was referring to the limited crossover that Jackson and Holt sometimes had with each other, although neither claimed to be able to remember details of that when they were out. Frankie had wondered if they wouldn't need to keep their video journal going when she had first come to learn of that through offhanded comments like that one, but it seemed neither personality had been lying when they said they didn't remember making an effort to actually converse with their other half outside their phone, except in extreme situations.

Holt leaned Frankie's head back as he ran his hands over her shoulders, Frankie reveling in the way that the sensations were both heightened in some regards but dulled in others. "Holt, that feels great." She murmured, leaning into him more and not realizing that Holt had maneuvered them into sitting on the grass. She closed her eyes as she let him run his hands further down her back and began to nuzzle against the side of her neck, she pressing the side of her face against his head. But the bell rang, startling her into awareness at what they were doing out in the open. "Holt…Holt, stop. This isn't something we should be doing." She said, pushing him away. Holt gave a frustrated sigh that she thought sounded more like a growl at her resisting him wanting to be close to her. "Come on…l-let's go get something to eat." She said, standing up and brushing the dirt off her skirt as she tried to catch her breath. Holt smirked at her in a way she found a little off for him, even when he was up to one of his pranks with his cousin. "I thought I was…" he said, Frankie rolling her eyes and heading back without him. "Frankie-Fine…wait for me!" he shouted to her, sprinting back over to her.

"You need better flirting lines Holt. That was just cliché and, well, weird. I never got what that was supposed to mean anyway." Frankie said, shaking her head as they walked back inside, heading over to the food line and grabbing trays. "Hey, um, I hate to ask…but I ain't the one who carries the money apparently." Holt said, smiling sheepishly at Frankie. But Frankie nodded understandingly, having already seen the spectacle he and Jackson had put on over who had control of their phone for the day. He'd taken off his headphones at some point, she noticed, realizing she hadn't seen them on him at all after the pool. But he also didn't seem willing to give up the phone either, if just to spite his other half.

"What do you normally do when it's you out for lunch?" she asked as they grabbed some food. Holt rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, I normally just take it and that's what I planned on doin' but Headmistress Bloodgood's standing over there and I ain't in the mood to sit around in detention for a whole period when I could be doin' other things. 'Sides, sometimes I use the automated account, but Jackson keeps changing the number so I don't just buy everything in one go – ha ha, did that a few times and got him into big trouble with our parents, but that was before we learned that _we_ are _we_ and not just ourselves." He said, shrugging as he smiled at the memory. "Jackson usually leaves a message on our phone with the code for the day just in case since he doesn't want to go hungry either, but I guess he hadn't gotten around to it before we split earlier." He said, Frankie laughing at the phrase he used that accurately described what had happened.

"It's alright. I've got just enough on me to make this my treat." She said, smiling at Holt who looked relieved. The two took their seats at an empty table, Frankie waving to their friends as they came wandering into the creepateria, the table quickly filling up. Jackson eventually came in too, Frankie wondering why he looked a little lethargic.

Cleo and Deuce had just finished explaining their discovery to a wide-eyed Frankie when Jackson sat down at the very edge of the table, looking irritated that it happened to be next to his alter ego. "You didn't leave me any money for lunch man." Holt said, Jackson rolling his eyes.

"Since when am I supposed to be your keeper? You know, since you're free of me for the day…did you steal that?" Jackson said as he indicated with his fork to Holt's plate in front of him.

"No, Frankie bought it for me." Holt said smugly to Jackson. Jackson looked over to Frankie in surprise. "Oh, Sorry Frankie. I'll pay you back." Jackson said, reaching for his wallet and pulling it out.

"No, it's okay. It was my treat to Holt." Frankie said with a smile that she hoped would ease the tension between the two halves of her boyfriend. Jackson looked at her as though he wasn't sure whether or not to ask again but Holt reached for his wallet. "Yo! Come on. I need somethin'" Holt said as Jackson pulled away from Holt.

"No you don't – you don't usually pay for things either. Why would you need it now anyway?" Jackson said in irritation, the others halting their conversation to watch the two of them.

"Why do you need to know if you ain't my keeper?" Holt asked in a mocking tone as he repeated Jackson's words to him. "It's my business. Just give it here." Holt said, trying to reach over his twin.

"No! This isn't _our_ money right now, it's _my_ money." Jackson argued.

"And just how'd you think we got it? It's from my gigs so hand it over." Holt argued.

"I tutor every day and just won an essay contest. What makes you so sure this is all _your_ ill-gotten money?" Jackson threw back at him.

"_Ill-gotten_? I actually worked for that and I didn't cause a problem – I earned it in every sense of the word. It pays more than your stupid tutoring." He said, Jackson scoffing at Holt.

"Like you would know how much that kind of work pays. And yes, I do know because I'm the only one who keeps track of both our income." Jackson said, scooting closer to the edge as Holt continued to make things difficult for him.

"Seriously dude? You need to get a life." Holt said, looking incredulously at his doppleganger.

"I have one, thank you. It's just fine and getting better without you hovering around in the background." Jackson shot back at the blue elemental.

"Oh, yeah. Likewise. But you're gonna need to find yourself another girl, ain't he Frankie?" Holt said, Jackson turning to look at her. Holt used his opposite's momentary distraction to gain a hold of the hand that Jackson had his wallet in, Jackson returning to tugging back on it. Frankie watched the back-and-forth between the two with growing concern, seeing the possibility of herself taking the place of the wallet they were fighting over.

"Okay guys, that's enough." Clawd said, standing up and standing over them behind the seats, pulling them apart a little to give them some space between them and preventing a fight.

"This what is like in your head all the time?" Abbey asked, looking dizzy from the whirlwind argument. Jackson pocketed his wallet and Holt crossed his arms in frustration as he growled in defeat.

"Yes." They answered in unison again. "Stop doing that!" they said, growing frustrated at their apparent inability to not talk at the same time. "You did it again!" Holt said throwing his hands up in the air.

"No, you did. You're always shoving your way into things." Jackson shot back.

"Only 'cuz you're too scared to do anything." Holt said, laughing at the offended look on Jackson's face. Jackson opened his mouth to retort when Clawd placed a hand over his mouth. Holt laughed even harder at the look Jackson shot to his friend, shoving the hand off his mouth.

"Dude, you two need a time out." Clawd said, Clawdeen rolling her eyes as she recognized the 'big brother' tone he used on her and Howleen from time to time when they went at it pretty good. But it seemed to work as both Jackson and Holt simply rolled their eyes and refused to look at one another. Clawd waited a moment to be sure that neither of them was about to lunge at the other before sitting back down next to Draculaura. The vampire looked at him impressed, Clawd smiling sheepishly at her look as she clung to his arm in thanks for ending the argument. Jackson sighed, but reached into his pocket again, handing a twenty dollar bill to Holt.

"Here. I don't know what you could possibly need in the span of a couple of hours, but this should be able to hold you over." He said, holding out the money to his other half. Holt looked at him dubiously as though expecting Jackson to pull it back once he reached for it. "Hey, you don't want it, that's fine by me too." Jackson said, making to put it back in his pocket when Holt snatched it out of his hand. "Can I at least know what it is I'm buying for you?" Jackson asked, Holt giving him an irritated look.

"Fine. I need a few connectors to the amplifier for Heath's guitar. They sell them at the school's store, but you need like, twice as many for them to have the same effect as the good kind. But this should cover it." Holt grumbled. Frankie gave him a look and he sighed. "_Thanks_" He said sarcastically, Jackson shaking his head.

"_Oh, you're welcome_. Just keep away from me and I'll be good." Jackson said, returning to his now cold lunch.

"You payin' me to stay away?" Holt smirked to him.

"Will it work?" Jackson asked in the same sarcastic tone Holt just used.

Holt laughed. "Probably not – but I'll take the bribe anyway." He said, holding out his hand. Jackson just smacked it away with his hand as he finished up his meal.

"See. You two can get along just fine. And since you're going to need to concentrate on your stuff, I'll leave you to it." Frankie said to Holt. Holt sighed in disappointment at her blunt statement that she'd be spending the next period with Jackson but nodded.

"You letting Heath play with you? I thought you say he not good enough?" Abbey asked, Holt shrugging in response. "Yeah, well, he pulled the 'I'll tell my parents and they'll tell your parents and you'll get grounded' card. He's practicing right now. I gave him an insignificant job so it shouldn't be too bad." Holt said, Frankie kicking him under the table. "What? He's terrible!" Holt said in his defense.

"It's true. Heath's not the greatest on the electric guitar, even if it's his dream to be in a rock band. Can't focus long enough on learning the techniques to actually be able to play a whole song." Jackson said, nodding in agreement with Holt's assessment. "Doesn't mean you should toss him for it – he is our cousin Holt. You were terrible to the others too." Jackson said, taking a sip of his water and standing up. "I'm gonna head back to the mad science lab to set up for the extra lab period. See you around guys." He said, removing himself before Holt could get in a retort. "Frankie, stay a little longer with me?" Holt said, giving her a look with pleading eyes that she found herself unable to resist. "Okay." She said, Holt pumping his fist in the air in victory. "I'll be up in a little bit Jackson. It's a study howl next period anyway for me." She said, Jackson giving her a small smile and a little wave before heading out.

"Is Heath really only practicing?" Abbey asked, looking around the creepateria. "No…Jinafire to help?" she asked, keeping her voice as level as usual despite the ghouls knowing of her problems with Heath. Holt shrugged. "Well, Jinafire's been hangin' around there in and out, but Heath's been up to somethin' else. I may have suggested something for you and he's probably been workin' on it." Holt said, wiggling his eyebrows and causing Abbey to roll her eyes.

"I can only imagine what he be working on." Abbey said, leaning her chin into her hand as she looked out the window. Lagoona patted her on the back, shooting a look to the other girls to help her out. But Frankie shook her head, she and the others all a little worried about what kind of suggestion Holt might make and how well Heath would run with it.

* * *

Frankie finished up slower than she thought she could ever draw out lunch as Holt kept on urging her to stay with him and not follow Jackson. But Frankie had managed to successfully find an escape when Abbey couldn't contain herself any longer and started to hound Holt for information about Heath and Jinafire. Holt hadn't seemed overly enthusiastic about having to talk about that any more, Abbey following him out of the creepateria as he claimed he needed to get to the store. Frankie passed Torelai on the way out, the werecat giving her a look that made Frankie feel a little cautious about what the ghoul might have in mind. Most of the other students had been shocked but with the way things at this school tended to pump out all sorts of surprises, they'd been pretty good with letting her be. But she had a feeling the werecat could easily find something to twist around in everyone's perceptions. Frankie shivered at the thought as she walked down the hall, catching herself as she realized that her feelings were becoming more intolerant of the werecat's behavior. She thought about how that wasn't too strange considering the particular werecat she was thinking about, but she was wondering why it seemed more and more like she wanted to find something more familiar to cling to. She'd only been human for a few hours but it seemed like she wanted more and more to have nothing to do with monsters, including going back to who she really was. Frankie took a deep breath and ran her hands across her face. _Get it together_, she thought, _what is with me_?

She passed by her locker, pausing as the temptation to take another of the remaining petals without telling the others was mounting. But smoke coming from around the corner took her attention away from those thoughts as she ran over to see what was going on. She had been expecting to see Heath possibly up to something, not having seen him for much of the day other than the few classes she had with him in the morning. But if Heath managed to get himself out of class as part of the committee to set up the after-school show, she figured he'd turn up eventually, especially once he got really hungry. But instead of seeing the fire elemental, the hallway was clear of loitering students since they were probably still at lunch. Entering the room where the smoke seemed to be coming from, waving it out of her face as best she could, she found Jackson standing on top of one of the lab tables and waving his sweater vest to keep the smoke from reaching the sprinkler.

"What did you blow up this time?" Frankie asked with humor in her voice. Jackson continued to wave his shirt, making some gains in his efforts but the billowing smoke from one of the vials wasn't helping. "Can you move that container over a little? Be careful though, it's hotter than it looks." He said, still looking up toward the sprinkler system. Frankie rolled her eyed but did as he asked, the smoke redirected from the sprinkler.

"Thanks Frankie. I don't know how I could've let something like that happen." Jackson said, sounding flustered with himself. "Ugh…it's like, I can't quite keep myself motivated enough to take care of all the little things I normally handle easily. And I really enjoy doing this stuff, especially when I get the chance to play around on my own." Jackson said, tossing his sweater vest onto one of the chairs and running a hand through his hair. "Maybe if I had another petal then it wouldn't be…" Jackson started to say, Frankie's eyes widening.

"Jackson, I think that might not be such a good thing. You didn't hear what Cleo and Deuce had to say at lunch did you?" she asked, realizing that she and Jackson had just experienced exactly what she'd been warned about. Jackson shook his head as he went about cleaning up his work area.

"No, but if I could analyze the petal I could…well, that would take too long. If we had another we could figure out if there might be…" He began but Frankie's touch on his arm had him pausing, turning to look at her.

"No, Jackson. Those petals can be dangerous. If we stay like this copy of whatever we wanted to turn into, we might lose ourselves to it. This is pretty cool and all, but we need to let it run its course. Cleo said it'll be difficult toward the end and we might fight it at first, but letting it wear off is better than prolonging this façade that we've been living out. It's not real. Nothing at this school really is anyway." She said, crossing her arms.

Jackson had been following her speech, but looked confused at the last part. "Nothing is? What are you talking about?" He asked, Frankie shrugging and looking tired of the whole thing. "All the monsters here. It's just…we shouldn't be here. I'd never realized just how bizarre some things are – like some of the food in the creepateria. Or the weird ways some monsters consider themselves…clean, for one thing." She said, Jackson staring at her incredulously enough to catch Frankie's attention. She gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh my ghoul! See! I'm not like that. Not all humans are like that either! But I'm placing human traits and ideas over the monster qualities of even myself and my parents…oh, we have to be careful." She said, staring to tear up. "Oh, it's getting hotter in here." She whined as she sniffled.

Jackson stood there still debating what to say, Frankie getting more irritated with his silence than if he had outright argued with her. "Um…well, maybe you're still getting used to humans being…um…probably ten degrees warmer than what your body temperature was like." He said, sounding less and less sure of himself as he spoke.

"_That's_ all you heard? Jackson, why aren't you worried about any of what I said? Why don't you say anything?" she started to yell at him. Jackson looked panicked as he saw the tears start to roll down her face. "Oh, please don't cry. Why do you cry so much?" he mumbled, wincing as Frankie let her mouth fall open in hurt surprise.

"I didn't mean that. Sorry. I'm not...um…well…it's just…." Jackson stammered, Frankie not finding it as adorable as when he sometimes did that with her still. He was naturally shyer than his alter ego, but it started to seem excessive.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, less of an accusatory tone than the last time she shouted at him. Jackson just shrugged, not looking particularly concerned. "Oh, wait…" Frankie said, looking off to the side as she came to a realization. "You and Holt are separate, which means, you and he are missing parts of yourselves. That's got to be it. You only wanted the petal to pull him out of you, to get rid of everything that he was to you. But that means…you said, no motivation…you've lost that drive that Holt has in excessive amounts to the point of obsession. And…and…you've no energy for even this. You've hardly even kissed me and he can't seem to stop. He has no restraint at all and you can't even stand up and tell me off when I'm yelling at you." Frankie rambled, Jackson opening his mouth to say something but shrugging again as though not willing to put up the fight.

"You're more like yourself when you're actually arguing with Holt. And he seems to care more about anybody else when he's nearby you. I know you two want to stay as far away as possible for whatever time we have left like this, but don't get too far from one another. Okay?" Frankie ended, Jackson shrugging again but nodding to his girlfriend. Frankie gave a small smile of relief at Jackson's agreement to her plan, although she knew that part of it had to do with the fact that Jackson seemed less willing to actually argue against anything.

"I'm not sure that you should go along with being the student helper for the last period of the day…" Frankie said, wondering at how easily it might be for the class to push him around, more so than he might normally be with his desire to be nice to everyone. But when he was in the lab, she knew that Jackson typically was in his element and made sure everyone followed his instructions or maintained proper procedures in the lab. He seemed to still be focused, but she wasn't sure how effective it might be.

"I can't tell Mr. Hackington no. I already told him I'd help like I usually do." Jackson said, rubbing the back of his neck. Frankie shook her head, walking over to hug Jackson. "Alright, but just be…ahh!" Frankie said, cutting off as the sprinkler above her went off and got her soaked. In their focus on their conversation, Jackson hadn't noticed when the smoke started to build up again from the chemicals, not having altered their composition when Frankie began to call his attention to what she was concerned over. But it seemed like Jackson had been successful in getting the system to only have one sprinkler go off only briefly, resulting in only Frankie getting doused.

Jackson covered his mouth to muffle the laugh he was desperately trying to keep back. Frankie glared up at him. "See. You don't even care!" she said, wiping the wet hair out of her face. "That's not true!" Jackson said, trying to talk around the smile on his face. "You're human. It's just a little water – it won't short you out like usual." He tried to reason with her, but after coming to the realization that they weren't themselves anymore and having gotten hardly any sympathy, Frankie wasn't in the mood for laughs. Jackson picked up his sweater vest and pulled it over Frankie's head. "You're only a little damp, but this'll help. You're already getting goosebumps. Calm down Frankie." He said, pulling her closer to him. "This'll all be over in a couple of hours. Unless I can find some way to possibly prolong…" he started to say, earning himself a smack.

"Didn't you listen. _No more petals_. You and Holt have to go back together again." She said, Jackson groaning. "I'm going to go to the ladies room and try and fix this. I'll be right back. " She said, gesturing to herself. "This checkerboard vest does _not_ go with my plaid skirt." She said, walking off swiftly out of the classroom. Jackson watched her go, unsure if he should call out to her but certain that whether human or not, he couldn't keep up with the back and forth emotions that she'd been shooting to him. He turned back to the equipment to avoid another fiasco.

He began to write the chemical formulas and equations onto the board from the notes he'd been given, hearing the door creak open again. "Can't we just kiss and make up?" Jackson said, hoping Frankie had thought things over and decided to just come back and keep him company. He turned around and immediately started nervously stuttering when he saw that it was Torelai and not Frankie in the doorway.

"I was hoping you might be able to help me with that project we got in biteology earlier. But if you're looking for a kiss…"she purred to him, Jackson blushing madly at her. "Sorry, sorry. I, uh, Frankie and I were, uh…well, you see, she wanted, no I..um…" Jackson stammered as he tried to explain himself. Torelai sauntered over to him, forcing Jackson to lean up against the blackboard in an attempt to keep some distance. "You know veterinary skills aren't my strong suit, but luckily I got assigned as my creature, humans. Frankie's doing, I'm sure. But now that she's human and hanging around with Holt, you should have all the time you need to help me out." She said, smiling up at Jackson in an almost predatory manner.

"Um, well, I'm sure you can find all the answers for that packet in the library. Or online. I can look it over for you and give you pointers if you're really, um, that worried. Or Frankie might want to…um…" Jackson said as Torelai leaned closer to him. "What are you doing?" he asked as Torelai began to stroke the side of his face. "I'm a curious kitty. Maybe I want to learn more about humans like Frankie, but that library stuff takes too long. I think I'll do my research _'__in the field'_." She said, planting a kiss onto Jackson, his surprise muffled. Her tail wrapped around his leg, startling him into pulling away.

"O-okay. What are you really up to? You don't actually care enough to give me the time of day." He said, his face red. Torelai shrugged, following him as he slid along the wall as though he could escape her that way. "Who says that wasn't me playing rough? I can' t be _seen_ actually liking you. It might ruin my reputation." She said, chuckling. "But with Frankie out of the picture…" she said.

"Wait. What do you mean, Frankie 'out of the picture'? She was just talking with me about…" Jackson started to ask. "I saw her in the hallway with Holt. I don't know when they came up for air, but she's made it pretty clear which version of you she'd rather spend the rest of her time with as a human." Torelai said as she leaned into Jackson's chest, toying with his bowtie. "Meanwhile, you can help me learn all sorts of interesting facts. I think I'll start with finding your max heart rate." She said, unbuttoning his shirt a little as she placed her hand on his chest. "I must be doing something right to get it all worked up like this. But let's see…" she smirked at him, Jackson trying to gently remove her hands off of him but finding himself with the werecat placing her lips on his again.

"So flighty Jackson. No wonder Frankie found you adorable." Torelai teased when she pulled away. "But I'll have to do better." She said, catching Jackson as he pulled away breathless and leaning him against the side of a lab table. "No, Torelai. This isn't funny…" Jackson began to protest, but his efforts to assert himself were more hampered than usual and he found himself realizing that Frankie's observation was right. "I think it is." The werecat purred, hugging Jackson and letting her tail wander around his waist. "Ahh! S-stop…" he said, but Torelai laughed. "But I haven't found my answer yet." She mockingly complained as she listened to his chest. Jackson stood there with his arms awkwardly trying to simultaneously support himself against the table and not crash into the equipment and chemicals while making pathetic attempts to keep Torelai away. He heard the door open again and panicked. "That did it." Torelai said, capturing his lips and turning his face away from the door.

"Jackson?" He heard Frankie's timid voice ask, turning as soon as Torelai let him go to see her standing there with his vest in her hands and looking both angered and heartbroken. "Frankie. L-let me explain!" Jackson stammered. "Torelai, get off me." He said, the werecat sliding off him with her usual graceful motions and shooting a triumphant look to Frankie. "This isn't what it looks like." Jackson tried to explain, realizing that his shirt had been unbuttoned some, making it seem like he'd been a willing participant. Frankie shook her head and tossed his vest to the side before storming out the door. "Frankie, wait!" Jackson said, turning to glare at Torelai.

"The look on her face was perfect. Worth the effort it took to get you in just the right position." The werecat said, waving her tail in Jackson's face as she walked past. "Frankie thinks she can just change her stripes and have everybody need to give her special attention? Not me. I can see through that desperate move and I think I've been successful in toying with her things, well, what _was_ hers." She slyly smirked. "Cleo would have been better, but getting her back was just as much fun. You aren't _that_ bad of a kisser." She said, tossing his shirt to him. "Torelai!" Jackson growled, but the werecat laughed. "You're not the same without that other side of you hanging around. _He_ might have been able to keep me from thinking twice, but you're just _you_." She said with a condescending look as she walked out. "I look forward to the aftershow. If you've got the courage to go after her with Holt waiting to run off with her. You really should make this permanent." She said over her shoulder as she stood in front of the doorway. "Then you might…oof!" she started to say, cut off as Jackson tossed one of the chemical containers onto the floor in front of her, a puff of smoke hitting her in the face.

"Was that supposed to…" she began to mock him when it seemed nothing had happened, but the sprinkler went off above her. She growled at getting soaked but the water seemed to have set off another reaction as it mixed with what he'd tossed at her, beginning to itch like crazy. "Oh, what did you do?" She meowed to him, trying to lick the stuff off and gagging as it got on her tongue. "That'll remind you for a little while to mind your own business!" Jackson said, pulling on his sweater vest and roughly shoving her aside to go follow his girlfriend, desperately hoping that Frankie hadn't done exactly as Torelai had said. He wasn't sure how he could face her and himself.

* * *

Cleo was worried herself when it seemed that Deuce was getting more and more restless, pushing her away more when she intervened to stop him from rubbing at his eyes. "Ugh…that's it." Deuce said, getting up from his seat. "Mr. Gorgon. You are not dismissed earlier than everyone because of your makeover for the day." His teacher said, standing in front of him to block his path and pointing back to the seats for him to return to. But Deuce shrugged him off. "So write me up. I can't stand sitting in here with all of you anymore. You're some of the ugliest things I've ever seen." He said, the teacher looking startled at the venom that practically dripped off each word. "You gussy yourselves up but it makes no difference. I can finally see all that now. I shouldn't have taken the glasses off." He said, storming out. Cleo bolted out of her seat, apologizing on Deuce's behalf to the teacher.

"Whoa. Guess there's the potential side effect." Clawd said, Draculaura and Lagoona nodding in agreement. "Sir, is it alright if I…" Clawd began to ask, but the teacher waved him off, already aware of the werewolf's intention to check on his friend. "You may go if they're not back in five minutes. Until then, wait here and let Miss de Nile handle this." The teacher said, Clawd slumping a little in his seat. "But sir…." He protested, seeing Cleo and Deuce out in the hall. But the teacher didn't give in and so he and the others watched the argument that was ensuing out in the hallway. Draculaura poked him to get him to try and listen in with his enhanced hearing, she already straining to pick up on what they were saying just as Clawdeen already had, her ears twitching.

"I know you don't mean that. It's the stone in your eyes making things look a little different. But your hearing is just fine so don't pretend you can't…" Cleo said, hand on her hip as she pointed at him. Deuce laughed, although it wasn't full of any real humor. "Cleo, for once, I'm seeing things clearer than ever before. And you know what? You and your princess attitude are getting to be too much for me. You hardly ever take the time to pay attention to me unless it's for your own purposes and while I may have thought it attractive how you could take charge like you do, it's overbearing and you get so wrapped up in yourself I don't know how those bandages have any room left." He shouted to her, snakes hissing. Cleo gasped and leaned back, not expecting his stony demeanor to come crashing down so forcefully on her. "I…" she began, swallowing around the lump forming in her throat. "I know that's just the side effect talking. Deucey, you're more caring than that and so I'm not going to dwell on it." She said, taking a deep breath. "Oh, good, so long as you're content. Then I can be overjoyed that the mummy has been satisfied." Deuce said sarcastically, their voices carrying into the classroom without the need for Clawd or Clawdeen to pass along what they were saying.

"Heath had the right idea." Deuce said, standing up straighter. "I'm gonna go see if I can find someone else more like me who understands….who sees what I see. And I'm finding that flower so I don't ever have to go back to kidding myself." He said, brushing past Cleo who looked petrified even without Deuce's ability returning. "Wait! Deuce, don't!" she said, reaching out to touch his shoulder but pulled back when one of his snakes looked ready to attack her. "Deuce, stop!" she called out after him as he stormed away, attempting to keep up.

"Can I go _now_?" Clawd asked their teacher, who sighed at the spectacle but nodded his head anyway, not saying anything when more than just Clawd left the classroom. The period wasn't too far along, but with the trouble that students were known to get into, he figured he'd send another student down to Headmistress Bloodgood to inform her of what was happening. Clawd and the others found Cleo sitting on a bench in the next hallway, wiping at her eyes as she cried.

"Oh, Cleo…" Draculaura said, coming to sit beside her friend. "We'll find him and he'll be back to normal in no time." She said with a sympathetic smile. Abbey nodded her head when Cleo finally looked up, her own worries about Heath being brought up again by Deuce's harsh words. "He looking for Heath so we head to band room, maybe we find him in there." she said with a shrug. Cleo sighed but reluctantly stood up, sniffling a few times and letting Lagoona offer her a tissue. "Okay. Let's look there first. But he could've gone anywhere. Oh!" she said, catching herself mid-sentence. "Can a couple of you go check Frankie's locker. He may have tried to get into it and take the flower for himself." She said, Clawdeen and Lagoona nodding, Gil following them just in case they did run into their irate friend.

"Okay. Let's go." Abbey said, pulling her friend's arm to get her to move. "Want to find Heath too. Maybe he can help if not too busy ." she said, a hint of bitterness in her tone at the thought of him having spent a good portion of the day hanging around with Jinafire again. He'd been blowing her off it seemed more and more without a good excuse, to the point where she was beginning to feel like a third wheel to the two of them. She'd spent a good portion of the most recent dance by herself, although Frankie had told her that was probably more likely due to her own tendency to isolate herself rather than Heath pushing her away.

However, once they got there, neither Deuce nor Heath were hanging around, although Holt waved to them once he spotted them. He had all sorts of electrical equipment spread out around him, holding one wire in his mouth as he worked on what appeared to be the command piece with its numerous wires sticking out. "Hey! It's a party in here! What brings you all this way if not to spend a little time with the Holster?" he asked, bounding over to them once he'd finished. Cleo looked like she would have rather done anything than linger in the band room with all the other students who'd been able to get out of class early to spend the day rehearsing. She huffed and turned sharply on her heel, heading back out into the hallway to resume her search for her boyfriend, Draculaura following after her. "Whoa! It wasn't somethin' I did this time. Or maybe she just can't handle my good looks." He said with a laugh.

Clawd rolled his eyes at Holt's equally arrogant nature that could rival the Egyptian princess. "She's looking for Deuce. He hasn't passed through here has he? He's not doing so great with the side-effects from that stuff he took." Clawd said, catching himself in time to not reveal to Holt what it was that had given him the day to himself. Holt shrugged as he thought about it. "Nah. But I might not have been paying attention. Been known to happen." He smirked, reaching out to pull Clawd over to his stuff and began handing him all sorts of things for him to hold onto. "Holt, I need to get back to the others and find Deuce. I can't stay and help." He said, politely trying to let the temperamental boy know that he was leaving.

"Excuse me? Am I not worth the same amount of time? I only got an hour or so until I disappear into that normie again so cut me some slack, yo! Just stand there for a sec and let me test this out." Holt said, Clawd sighing as his friend used guilt to get him into helping him. "Abbey ain't too worried about it." Holt said as he started fiddling with his stuff, Clawd watching as Abbey walked over to where Jinafire was strumming her mandolin. "Uh oh…" Clawd said. "You ready for fire meeting ice?" he asked Holt, who laughed. "Oh, man. Been waiting all day for this – was hoping I'd still be here like this to get to see it." He said, stopping what he was doing to watch.

Abbey walked up behind Jinafire and tapped Jinafire on the shoulder. "Hey. We need to talk about Heath. In case you forgetting – he Abbey's boyfriend." She said sternly, the dragon ghoul turning in her seat to face the yeti. "Yes. He often speaks of you, but I fail to see why you…" Jinafire said in her usual calm tone before being cut off by Abbey's harsher accented voice. "No, you be failing to know to keep distance. I try to do what other ghouls here say is normal, let you be friends, but I not afraid to do what is done in village when another ghoul makes move on man." The yeti threatened, her fists balling.

"Oh, this is gettin' good." Holt whispered to Clawd, his own maniacal chuckle causing Clawd to tense up as everyone seemed to take notice of what was going on. Jinafire cocked her head to the side as though this was a baffling conversation. "I _have_ spent a large amount of time with Heath, but we are both creatures of fire. We have much to talk about." She said, returning to playing her instrument. Abbey growled at being dismissed so quickly, grabbing the mandolin quickly out of the dragon's hands and encasing it in a block of ice. "Do not touch my mandolin!" Jinafire said, standing up abruptly to reach for her instrument. "Do not touch my boyfriend!" Abbey said, the two of them getting in each other's faces, Holt practically bouncing in excitement as he stood next to Clawd.

The werewolf shook his head and went to intervene, but Holt held him back. "No way man! Let them go at it. Only way they're gonna ever get anywhere with this – Abbey's too stubborn and blunt and Jinafire's equally persistent but too…riddle-y" Holt said, waving his hand around. Clawd looked at him with a questioning look. "Are you five or something?" He said in response to Holt making up words, but he understood what he was getting at in the polar opposite qualities of the two girls. "We don't need them getting into any fights with the way you and Jackson were going at it earlier." He said, Holt scoffing at the idea before shushing him when it seemed the girls were getting back to their argument once Jinafire had thawed out her mandolin.

"I have done no such thing. It is dishonorable for a ghoul to do such a thing to another ghoul they call their friend without first asking if the couple were ending their relationship. The stars do not interrupt the moon when it is kissing the top of the sky simply because they are both wearing a similar cloth." Jinafire said, but Abbey looked only more irritated. "Do not try to confuse Abbey with funny phrases. You and he talk more with each other both during and after school, he stay closer to you than me, there no special event coming up between two of us for him to be making surprise, therefore there be something going on. You tell, _now_." Abbey said in her typical direct fashion, getting straight to the point. Jinafire huffed at the implication, turning away from Abbey. Abbey reached out to get her to turn around, unintentionally snagging some of Jinafire's hair. The dragon yelped and spun back around, shouting a surprised burst of flame at the yeti, Abbey covered her face with her arms. Jinafire gasped as she realized what she'd done, Abbey shooting a cold blast of air back at her.

"Oh, yeah. Now it's getting' good!" Holt said with a wide smile on his face, the only one in the room looking excited over an impending fight. The other students quickly left the room, not willing to stick around and be collateral damage, some taking their things just in case. "Holt, we can't let them go at it." Clawd said, although he didn't sound confident about being able to successfully intervene. He dropped what Holt had thrust at him and began to walk over but a blast of fire had him scampering back to where Holt was waiting, the elemental catching him before he fell. "Nothing like a good blast to the face to wake you up, huh?" he asked laughing as Clawd rubbed at his face.

"That was an accident. You didn't need to shoot ice at me." Jinafire shouted to Abbey who'd frozen the dragon's feet to the floor as she tried to buy some time to put out the flames that had caught onto the fur portion of her dress. "You try to hit me with fire." Abbey countered, bracing herself as Jinafire broke out of the ice. "Oh…I know you're worried, but think this through. When did Heath last lose control in a damaging way around you?' Jinafire shouted as she blocked the ice Abbey shot at her again. Abbey paused as she thought about this, her face taking on a thoughtful look. "He still goofy self. He lose control all the time. Set fire to clothes, to all sorts of things…" Abbey started to argue, building up another blast in her hands she likely planned to toss at the dragon.

"But not to _you_. He was worried about repeating the last time he'd done something that made you pass out from too intense of a flame. He talked with me about meditation techniques to try and control his fire a little more. At least when he's with you." Jinafire said as Abbey visibly relaxed at the news, her face showing her shock. "He do that for me?" Abbey asked. "But he can't concentrate on anything for very long…" Abbey said. Jinafire sighed, "Yes, I _have_ learned. It's why we have had to spend so much time trying to get any progress." The dragon looked like her patience had been tested lately in regards to the fire elemental but Abbey gave a small smile as she thought about her boyfriend's thoughtfulness. "Oh! I…I am sorry I accuse you." Abbey said but Jinafire waved off her concern with a smile of her own, stepping forward to give her friend a small hug as they reconciled.

"Well, that was anticlimactic. Boring…." Holt said, rolling his eyes as he returned to tinkering with his equipment. But Clawd breathed a sigh of relief at the natural and quick downturn of events, hoping that such an outcome could happen for the others too. "Wait. You said earlier you were giving Heath some advice over his love troubles with Abbey." Clawd said, turning back to Holt. "What exactly did you suggest and how badly is it gonna backfire?" the werewolf said. Holt laughed at the thought, picking up the back of one of the speakers and reattaching it, turning his music on and bobbing his head along with it as his modifications seemed to suit him. "Holt!" Clawd yelled over to him to get him to focus on him again.

"I'm busy! Go see if Heath's got those vilas yet if you're so worried." He said, briefly looking up to the werewolf. But Clawd looked curiously at Holt's statement, clearly asking him for more information. "Vilas… you know…they're like sea monkeys but for mountains and snow. I told him that maybe if he got her something like that it'll make her ease up on him not paying attention to her scaritage or something stupid like that." Holt said, Clawd shaking his head. "Better than Jackson's mushy 'just talk to her' speech. Clearly that wasn't gonna work. You saw what it took to get Abbey to listen – see, I know what I'm doin'. Don't know why people get so worked up in all the wrong ways about me and my ideas." Holt said, shaking his head.

"Okay. What might happen if Heath, say, overdoes it a bit?" Clawd asked. Holt shrugged in a dismissive manner. "How should I know? Not my job to do everything for him." He said, Clawd groaning. "Holt, where would he even get these…" he started to ask but Frankie came running through the door, launching herself into Holt's side.

"Whoa! Knew you'd come running back after having to be bored to death by Jackson." He chuckled until he realized she was crying into his chest. "Hey, what's up?" He asked, Frankie wishing there was more than curiosity in his voice and yearning for the kind of care that Jackson had spoken to her with even if he'd been lethargic in his company. But Holt did give her some concern and Frankie held him as tightly as her human arms allowed.

"Holt, let's just go. Like you said, we can just go. Just the two of us." She said, looking up at him. "If I knew a way to keep you like this for a little longer, would you take me away from here?" she pleaded with him, his eyes widening as she dangled his desire in front of him.

"Absolutely! Let's get goin'." Holt yelled out, swinging her around in the air. But Clawd blocked their way, holding up his hands to get them to take a moment to figure out what was happening. Holt tried to shove him aside, eager to get to whatever Frankie was offering him, but the werewolf was able to hold his own as they matched their strengths against her other. "Frankie…what happened? What's wrong?" he asked, Abbey and Jinafire lingering nearby.

"Jackson…I walked in on Jackson k-kissing…oh…" She started to say, breaking down into tears again. Holt stared at her with wide eyes. "What? He kissed another ghoul. Huh…didn't know he had it in 'im." Holt said, Frankie smacking him on the shoulder for the last part. "Right. Sorry Frankie." He said, sending her a large smile.

"You-you wouldn't do that to me, right?" Frankie sniffled. "And with Torelai of all monsters. Let's just go and never have to see another monster again. I can stay human – I like the way this feels." She said, walking into Holt's arms again. "Can't complain about that." Holt said, the two of them taking off down the hall, Clawd missing his chance to grab onto one of them to keep them in the room.

"Oh no…" Jinafire said. "We must go after them. This cannot be good if they cannot be one again." She said, Clawd nodding and taking the lead in following after their friends. "Jackson would not do such a thing though. I don't believe it was him who was doing the kissing." The dragon said, Abbey nodding in agreement. "But Frankie is too emotional right now to be able to see that." The yeti said as they ran down the hall.

"Oh, come on." Clawd whined. "How could they have just disappeared? I know Holt's fast but he would've had to carry Frankie to get away from me so fast…" the werewolf said, growling in frustration. "Let's head to Frankie's locker. They've got to stop there if Frankie was being serious. And Holt literally has no patience or restraint right now. He would've started demanding answers if she didn't start talking soon." He said, exchanging a worried look with Abbey. The three of them sprinted as fast as they could back over to the area of the school where Frankie's locker was located, hoping that nothing had happened yet.

* * *

Cleo had been a mess when Draculaura caught up with her again, concerned over how to get through to her boyfriend. Her vampire friend had to tug on her arm's bandages to get her to pay attention to anything else as her mind raced through worst case scenarios and any remedies she might have come across over the centuries.

"Cleo. He will be okay. He's Deuce." Draculaura said, hoping to soothe her friend's anxieties. The mummy sighed, holding her face with her hands. Lagoona and Gil had also been patient with their friend as they walked back to their lockers, Cleo's panicked run getting their attention when they'd been heading to Frankie's locker. "We know what he planned on doing so let's just head to Frankie's locker." Gil said, the girls nodding in agreement over his plan. Approaching Frankie's locker, Cleo gasped as she saw Deuce standing there with Torelai by his side. The werecat noticed them before the gorgon, Deuce focused on trying to get Frankie's locker open.

"Deuce!" Cleo shouted, anger returning at the presence of Torelai. "What are you doing?" she demanded, her anguish over his harsh words seemingly pushed to the back of her mind as she glared at him with wrath that had gotten her through the ancient plagues. "What does it look like Cleo? He's finally realized there's nothing good here to look at…" the werecat sneered at the mummy, Cleo's growls rivaling Clawdeen's.

"He's under the influence of the lotus flower. Don't flatter yourself Torelai." Cleo growled the other girl's name, but Torelai just laughed as she leaned against the locker. "Deuce, look at me." Cleo said, touching his arm. But Deuce shook her off of him, ignoring Gil's and the other's protests at his rough behavior.

As they were quarrelling, Frankie and Holt entered the hallway, Holt practically dragging Frankie to get to her locker. "You!" Frankie shouted as she saw Torelai, glaring at the werecat. Torelai smirked as she saw Frankie with Holt. "You've no right to be hanging around here." Frankie said, looking over the other ghoul in unmasked distaste. "You're nothing but a disgustingly abnormal creature and you've nothing of merit." She sneered at Torelai.

"_I'm_ abnormal? You turned yourself into a human!" Torelai shouted to Frankie. But Frankie only looked smug that her words had an impact on the werecat. "Yes. And I'm going to stay this way too. Now get out of my way." Frankie said, shoving Torelai aside as best she could, the werecat storming off. "I've nothing against you guys. Not all monsters are awful, but I'll keep to my side and you keep to yours and we can all get along." Frankie said to her friends. "Being human is just so much better." She said, her friends looking dumbstruck at her announcement to them. "I mean…I'll still hang around with you guys, but there's just so many things that are just too odd and we never even thought about them like that before." She said.

"Do you hear yourself?" Lagoona asked, reaching over to hold Frankie's hand. "I know you find humans fascinating and all but you've gone native _way_ too much. You're talking like Lilith before she and Cleo found a common interest." Lagoona said. "One isn't _better_ than the other. You know that."

"It's the petal." Cleo said, eyes wide. "She wanted to learn to experience things as a human and it's making it so that she wants _only_ human things – human friends, human lifestyle…everything." Cleo said, Draculaura holding a hand over her mouth as she stood in shock.

"So I prefer human things over monster things now…like I said, I don't _hate_ monsters. There are some things that I have no problem with, and it doesn't mean I can't still…" Frankie started to explain before the ghouls' attention was redirected to the guys struggling in front of Frankie's locker. Holt looked incredibly determined to get to the flower before Deuce, Gil getting tossed aside quickly as he tried to play mediator.

"Frankie, don't do that to yourself. You're gonna end up turning into someone you just aren't." Lagoona said, Gil nodding as he thought back at how his own girlfriend had made the effort to change herself to be someone else she thought he would be able to be with better.

"Hey, it's my locker!" Frankie shouted, standing behind Holt as he tried to get inside. Deuce laughed at her as he looked over at her. "But you can't make up your mind about anything, can you? Jackson or Holt, Jackson or Holt….well, now that it really is an 'or' situation, the human Frankie shows off how hypocritical she is when she claims to only want a _human_ life and yet, chooses Hyde rather than Jekyll as her boyfriend." Deuce said, sounding completely the opposite of who he was. Cleo gasped again at her boyfriend's behavior as he tried anything to get Holt to back off and let him have access to Frankie's locker.

"Stop it! All of you!" Abbey's voice came filtering over them as she arrived with Clawd and Jinafire. "Is ridiculous argument. This petal make you all crazy…well, crazier." She said as she looked at Holt. Holt didn't seem to take any offense. If anything, he seemed to find it a compliment. But Holt took the opportunity to knee Deuce, the gorgon stumbling back in surprise as Holt yanked open the door and pulled out the flower.

"Well, this had been fun and all, but we've got other plans." He said as he swiftly walked over to Frankie. Deuce growled and made to lunge at Holt, but Clawd and Gil held onto him to stop any fights. Holt laughed, wrapping an arm around Frankie as he backed away, intending to flee with his prize. But Abbey shot at him with her ice, temporarily fusing him and Frankie together long enough for Jinafire to be able to deftly pull the flower from his grip as he struggled to free himself. He protested, breaking free of the ice and Frankie falling to the floor. He ignored her and followed after Jinafire who dodged several attempts by the Hyde to grab her, tripping and falling to the floor. In a panic, she held the flower up and breathed a small burst of fire onto it, the flower disintegrating in the flame. She took the opportunity to pick herself up as Holt and Deuce stopped struggling with the others as they realized that the flower was gone.

Before anyone could open their mouth to say anything though, the hallway shook as if in response to large footsteps. The large group of friends stood nervously in the hallway as they looked around for whatever had caused the disturbance. School had officially ended several minutes ago, and they hoped that it was just a possible reaction to a large amount of students suddenly moving around that might have caused it. But since they'd had virtually a private hallway for their own drama to be acted out, none of them could really count on that explanation. A cold gust of wind whipping towards them had all but Abbey holding themselves tighter to keep warm.

"Oh, might not be so bad." Abbey said, letting her hair flow in the breeze and giving a relaxed sigh at what to her was a refreshing breeze rather than biting cold. But the oncoming mass of snow flurries had the others rushing to get to some form of cover as a large, white humanoid-looking mass made its way down the hallway. Frankie found herself knocked to the ground again by the wind, calling out to Abbey as the only one who might be able to help her out. But it seemed that her friend had rushed forward to see what the creature actually was, and Holt wasn't in her direct line of sight. Her eyes widened as she saw what looked like icicles getting tossed around and impaling themselves in lockers and the walls. She screamed as she attempted to back away from the wintry onslaught, tripping over her own feet and cowering in the expectation of feeling the pain of one of those icicles hitting her. But instead of that, she felt herself being pulled aside and shielded by someone else in one of the small spaces between the lockers and the end of the hallway wall. Opening her eyes once it seemed that the cold had lessened and the footsteps were getting farther away, she gasped as she looked up into Jackson's face.

"F-F-F-Frankie. L-L-Let m-me exp-plain." Jackson shivered, a layer of frost and snow on his back. Frankie nodded and helped him stand up, dusting off the snow from him. "T-Torelai c-came into the r-room and I c-c-couldn't g-get her o-off me. I t-told her it w-wasn't right, b-but she k-kept k-k-kissing me." He said, shaking as he rubbed his arms to warm himself, his limited elemental abilities working hard to get himself back to normal after going through a flash-freeze. "I kn-kn-know you said I w-wasn't st-standing up for myself or us, b-but I'm sorry. R-really. I p-pushed her off before you c-came in, but I h-heard the door and she s-surprised me." Jackson said, his eyes pleading with her to understand. Frankie hugged him despite how cold he was, holding him tightly. Jackson did his best to hold her close too. "I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to explain. But it still hurts. You didn't really look like you were fighting back." Frankie said, pulling away to shoot a disbelieving look at Jackson. "Frankie, p-please. I wouldn't…I couldn't do that to you. You gotta b-believe me." Jackson pleaded, Frankie sighing as he looked beseechingly at her to not give up on him. She looked at him with a smile and gave a small nod, stepping forward to lean into another hug. However, the others seemed to come out of their hiding spaces too, just in time for Heath to come running down the hall.

"Oh man…I can fix this." He said as he looked around at the wintry atmosphere and smiling sheepishly at his friends. "I might have given them too much to eat. I didn't really finish the instructions on the card…he,he" he said as Cleo and Clawdeen popped up out of one of the snowbanks that had formed along the sides of the wall. Clawd was attempting to help Draculaura get the snow off her while Gil and Lagoona peeked out of one of the storage closets they'd been lucky enough to get into before getting any snow on them.

"Heath…that was awesome!" Holt shouted as too came out of hiding, ironically with Deuce and Jinafire nearby since it seemed they hadn't had a chance to split up after their scuffle before taking shelter. "I'd have preferred something a little less able to blow my fire out, but this is gonna be…." Holt started to rant as he came up alongside his cousin.

"Holt, we need to worry about getting those vila to pull apart and be tiny again." Abbey said as she ran back over to her friends. "Not about party possibilities." She said, turning to look to Heath who winced in anticipation of her scolding him. Abbey shook her head but surprised Heath by a quick hug. "Was very thoughtful of you to want to surprise me with something from home. But vila are mountain creatures not meant for flat ground of school – will be hard to please to get them to stop spreading ice everywhere. I do not mind so much but am not thinking others will appreciate tundra." She said, Heath guiltily looking to her and the others.

"He, he…yeah…Surprise!" He said, waving his hands in a goofy manner that Abbey laughed at. "It was Holt's idea…." He mumbled when he saw the glares Cleo and a couple other girls were leveling at him. Holt laughed at being cast as fully to blame, slapping his cousin on the shoulder. "Yeah, but you actually listened…ha, ha…." He said, Frankie rolling her eyes and Jackson hung his head in shame at his other half's attitude and disregard for any responsibility.

"We should see if it's heading outside." Jinafire said, Abbey nodding with her plan. "Or else get all of them to want to go outside. That wind in the hallways makes it difficult to direct my flame." She said, her and Abbey taking the lead in following the creature Heath had let loose, the fire elemental following closely behind. Frankie and Jackson also followed, Holt noticing that his girlfriend had run off with his other half and shouting out to her to wait for him.

"Deuce, come on. We need you." Cleo said as she clung to her boyfriend's arm while he tried to storm off. "You'll be thanking Jinafire in a little while. Please, stay with me." She said, the gorgon huffing as though it was too much effort to try and see past whatever blurred images he was seeing with the stone graying his vision. But as he looked at Cleo, he seemed to momentarily overcome the side-effect of the change, allowing Cleo to launch herself into his arms and crush herself to his chest. "It'll be okay. It's only for another hour. Don't focus on it and you can enjoy the time we have left without you needing to cover your eyes." She said, running a hand along his face as she spoke to him. Deuce clenched his jaw in an obvious effort to keep from pulling back or saying anything else nasty to her, Cleo tightly hugging him again before they headed off to follow their friends.

* * *

Racing down the hall as they followed the trail of ice and snow, Frankie nearly ran into Ghoulia as she walked through the halls with a confused face. "Oh, Ghoulia! You're back from your field trip!" Frankie said, taking the zombie by surprise. "You've missed a lot." She said with a smile, hoping her friend might say something soon with the way she was staring at her. "Long story but I'll explain after we've dealt with this, okay?" she said as she took off again, waving over her shoulder at the still gaping zombie. She knew that zombies had a slower reaction time, but this seemed even more so for Ghoulia, leaving Frankie giggling a little in amusement and hoping that the others might catch up and fill her in on all that had happened.

Frankie followed the trail which did lead outside, not doubt coaxed out by Abbey and Jinafire. The large mass that she'd realized was actually a bunch of those small vila creatures was standing over where a sandy area had been set up for outdoor volleyball, making its way over to the outdoor stage that was to be for the 'Musical Mayhem' event. She gasped at the prospect of the vilas rampaging through that area of the school and making a further mess. Abbey was attempting to gently, or as gentle as the yeti's definition included, to keep the vilas together but provide them will a less threatening environment to them. Heath and Jinafire stood by, looking as though they wanted to do something but just weren't completely sure how to use their polar qualities to aid in keeping things from spiraling even more out of control. Frankie stood off to the side with the others, watching as they waited for one of their friends to make some sort of suggestion, looking to see where Headmistress Bloodgood might be for help. Frankie jumped a little in surprise when Ghoulia caught up to them, moaning something about the sand.

"Why would you want Heath and Holt to direct their fire at the side? Jinafire doesn't look like she's having any luck either." Lagoona asked, trying to keep up with their clever friend.

"Oh! Of course!" Jackson said. "But it would have to be, like, lightning hot. I don't think any of them could do it on their own. Holt's only partly elemental anyway." Jackson said, having gotten the frost completely off him by now. Ghoulia rolled her eyes and moaned something else at him.

"She's right. If you help out too, it might work." Clawdeen said. "But what's going to keep the vilas from breaking out of the glass once they've melted the sand?" she asked, realizing that Ghoulia and Jackson had thought of a possible quick method of containing them if they could only vitrify the sand into glass.

"Well, if it turns into blue frit when they fuse the sand together, then maybe they'll think they're back in the glaciers or something." Cleo said, earning herself a few questioning looks. "What? When I was really little, that's how early glass was made. It was either blue or green-tinted depending on what was in the sand and that looks like there's plenty of mixed material." She explained in an offhand manner as she recalled her earlier memories.

Frankie tugged on Jackson's sleeve to get him to see their logic. "Frankie. I haven't even tried at all with being split like this. I can't…I just, can't…" he said, reverting back to his less assertive stance that Frankie found he couldn't help with missing certain parts of himself. "I…I…I could barely warm myself up from that snow flurry, how can I possibly….Holt's better at that than me…" he stammered out, looking nervously between his group of friends.

"Yes you can. You can control your own elemental abilities when you are you, so you should be able to help get the temperature to the right degree." Frankie tried to encourage him. Ghoulia moaned about how hot the four of them would have to heat the sand, Jackson sighing. "850-1000° Celsius isn't too bad for the three of them…." He tried to counter, but Frankie reached out to hold onto Jackson's shoulders. "Go help them Jackson. You're strong enough." She said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Alright…" Jackson mumbled, earning a smile from Frankie. "If Holt can set off bullets with his own version of flame control, then I should be able to contribute something…" he said, shrugging his hsoulders.

"When did that happen?" Clawd asked, eyes wide. Jackson rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he hesitated to run off toward the monster. "One of Heath's parent's friend's a while back had a BB gun and Holt thought it would be funny, apparently, to set the bullets off without having to use the gun." He said.

"Jackson, you're stalling." Gil said, recognizing his friend's tactics. Jackson sighed but nodded. "Come on. The sooner the better, you know, before they start terrorizing more than the volleyball court with that snowstorm." He said, spurring Jackson to run off toward the vilas, ducking as a shot of more icicles came flying at him as the vilas were startled by his additional presence. Frankie watched as he ran over to Holt, shouting something to him and pointing. Holt nodded and headed over to Heath while Jackson tried to get over to Jinafire, sliding on some of the ice. Jinafire nodded and began to gesture to the others, the three boys spreading out as she directed. Abbey looked curiously at them before quickly returning to giving her undivided attention to the advancing mass of vilas who were creating more lashing wind around them the longer they stood there, whipping the sand all around in addition to the snow and frost. At Jinafire's signal, the four of them began to direct flame toward the bottom of the mass of creatures' feet, spreading upward to collect with the sand particles in the air. The dragon seemed to be taking the lead, Heath backing her up from where he stood opposite her, but Holt and Jackson seemed to be significantly lacking in their contributions, especially Jackson.

"What if they can't get it to work after the first try?" Clawdeen worried aloud. "I doubt they're gonna be too happy with what's happening." She said, the group backing away a little more as it seemed that the vilas were fighting back. A sharp shot of ice from Abbey had them pause long enough for the sand to vitrify all the way to the top of the mass of creatures, looking a pale, icy blue that Cleo had predicted. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief as they saw the vilas break apart from their collective swarm as they bounced around their newfound cage, but appearing to be content with their isolated frozen environment. Abbey gave out a triumphant shout as the danger seemed to have passed, Jinafire and Heath giving heavy sighs as they caught their breath. Holt looked winded too, kneeling forward onto his knees. Frankie was relieved too, celebrating with her friends until she saw Jackson drop to his knees and lean forward onto his arms. Holt looked over to him and reached out to him, saying something, but she couldn't pick up on what he was saying.

Turning to Clawdeen, the werewolf's ears twitched before she waved off Frankie's concern. "Holt's calling him a wuss for collapsing. But Jackson's bickering with him so I think he's just a little winded from over-exerting himself." She said with a shrug, Clawd nodding along with his sister's relaying of their conversation. "Give 'em a sec to recover. Holt's having a hard time too but I doubt he'd ever admit that, although he does seem to be doing better faster." She said as she pointed over to see Holt standing next to Jackson as he sat on the ground, looking bored with having to wait for his other half, bouncing around a little in his impatience. Frankie shook her head, following Cleo and Deuce as they took the lead in heading over to take a closer look.

Frankie walked over to Holt and Jackson with a smile on her face. "You two were amazing. I knew you had in you - both of you." She said, giving Holt a hug. "That…was actually…pretty cool." Jackson said as he looked up from his grassy seat, breathing deeply as he caught his breath. "Finally! Thought you'd just be puffing like a broken dragon for a while." Holt complained, Jackson shaking his head in irritation. "But it's about time for you to take part in how much fun _my_ kind of party is…" Holt said, Jackson groaning in frustration at Holt's comments as he stood up. Frankie laughed, pulling away from Holt to hug Jackson too. "You sure you two are feeling okay? That had to be hard for you being only half-elemental." She said, feeling Jackson still taking deep breaths like Holt had been when she'd hugged him. But Jackson just nodded while Holt commented on how he could've done more than Jackson if he had to.

"Well done everyone." Jinafire said as she and Heath worked to make sure the base was definitely strong enough to keep the vilas inside, the tiny humanoid creatures making content noises from within. Abbey was freezing the areas where they heated up a few patches to strengthen the glass, which looked more like ceramic than actual glass. "You doing okay over there cuz'?" Heath shouted over his shoulder. "Yeah." Holt and Jackson answered at the same time, only briefly glaring at each other for their simultaneous answers.

"Awesome. Then we can head over to the stage." Holt said, dragging Frankie away from Jackson despite his other half's protests as he headed toward the stage. "Come on Heath. It should be starting any minute!" Holt yelled back, prompting Jackson to look at his watch. "He's right. You girls should head over and sign in if you want to practice at all before the competition begins." He said as he looked over to Clawdeen and Draculaura, the two girls' eyes widening as they realized their own tardiness. The others laughed as they made their way at a slower pace over to the stage where they could see colored lights starting to be turned on for the show.

"What we do with them though?" Abbey asked as she looked over the vilas as they fluttered about in their cage. They didn't look too upset, but she didn't want to just leave them. Lagoona shrugged but gasped as she thought of something. "Hey, can anybody have one as a pet or something?" she asked, Abbey nodding in confusion. "They harder to take care of. They like to cause windstorms but are otherwise good companions." The yeti said, smiling as it seemed one of the vilas seemed to have taken a liking to her and was making faces at her through the glass. She waved at it through the glass, getting a delighted response from the vila before it bounced off. "Well then, we can ask around the audience for the show or even suggest the others in the show be offered to take one home with them as a prize. I mean, there's only the grand prize, right?" she said, the others liking the sound of her plan. "Sounds good. Will go find Headmistress Bloodgood." Abbey said, breaking away from the group as they found spots on the grass near the stage to watch the performances. Jackson turned to Heath with a curious look. "Shouldn't you be helping Holt or something? You don't want to miss your chance." He said, his cousin following Abbey with his eyes. "Oh, yeah!" He said, thanking his cousin before sprinting off behind the curtain to get to Holt while Jackson shook his head in humor at his cousin's attention span. Heath nearly ran into Frankie as she came out from behind the curtain, holding it open for her friend before walking over and sitting next to Jackson.

"You sure you're alright? You still look a little flushed." She said, using him to recline comfortably against. Jackson laughed, wrapping his arms around her. "Yeah, well, so do you Frankie. Being human gives you away like that." He laughed at as she put her hands to her face. "But I think that whatever was making us so wacky and unlike ourselves has passed." He said, Frankie nodding as she felt less antagonistic toward monster lifestyles and more like her usual self. Looking over to Deuce and Cleo, they saw Deuce apologizing profusely to his girlfriend. "Well, I'm sure there will be some way for you to make it up to me…" Cleo teased, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's neck and resting against him as they sat together.

The show began shortly afterward, Clawd feeling compelled to clap loudest for his sister and girlfriend, even if he thought Draculaura might have hit a few too high notes for his liking. Frankie had laughed when Clawdeen did her best to keep from visibly laying her ears back during those brief moments. But the two of them sang very well, followed by a performance by Operetta that left her wondering if Holt really might knock the stage down if the way her piece had shaken a few things. When Holt and Heath's turn did come around, she hadn't been too far off with how forceful things might get, but it wasn't just Holt's modifications he'd spent the day working on that had her worried. As Heath played in the background now and then while Holt mixed all sorts of rhythms together that had people getting up to dance on the lawn, a few of the vila had made their way on stage.

"Oh no!" Lagoona squeaked, stopping her dance with Gil to point out the escaped vilas. "How did they get out? What should we do?" she said, Frankie and Jackson also looking alarmed as the vilas started to weave in and out between Heath's legs, forcing the elemental to have to dance around them in order to not get tripped. This also meant that he wasn't paying attention to how he was holding the guitar either, but the others found that the vilas knew more about guitar playing than Heath as their friend's comical dance moves resulted in him playing an actually pleasant piece that synced well with Holt's work. As it ended, Abbey chasing the vila off the stage while the cousins took their bows, Holt and Heath looking quite pleased with themselves at hearing the cheers for them.

"Well, that's one way to get Heath to play." Jackson laughed as he and Frankie clapped. "Still weird to be clapping for, well, myself." He said, earning a laugh from Frankie at his comment. A couple more acts were left, but Frankie felt confident that they all knew who had won, Headmistress Bloodgood confirming Holt and Heath the winners not too long after the last performances. As it was Holt whose name their act was technically under, he was called back on stage while Heath stood with Abbey and the gaggle of vilas that she'd gathered around her.

"As this year's winner, I have the pleasure of presenting to you the grand prize." Headmistress Bloodgood said, everyone waiting to hear what the prize would be this year. Walking behind one of the curtains she returned with a gleaming red electric guitar that had been on display in the music store as the highest end model. "Congratulations Holt." She said as she handed it over to him. Holt took it and looked it over. "Any plans on what you'll use it for?" Headmistress Bloodgood asked, a typical question that she'd ask at the end of any competition. Holt shrugged as he turned to look at her. "I ain't gonna use it." He said, taking everyone by surprise as he then jumped off the stage. "He is" He said as he landed in front of Heath, holding out the prize to him. "B-but you said…" Heath stammered, obviously fighting to not just rip the thing out of his cousin's hands in his desire for a real rock-star quality electric guitar. "I know. But I lie, so just take the thing before I change my mind." Holt said, Heath not waiting for that to happen and eagerly grabbing it and putting the strap over him as he strummed it a couple of times.

"Awwww…." A chorus of voices could be heard, causing Holt's face to morph into a scowl of embarrassment at the attention. Heath thanked Holt with an ecstatic look on his face, his hair igniting wildly as he played with his new toy. His smile was practically impossibly wide until he realized what he was doing and tried to play things off as nonchalant. Abbey laughed at his miserable attempts to keep calm before blinking a few times and taking a step back from the heat he was unintentionally throwing toward her. But before she could say anything, Heath seemed to pick up on it and his flame diminished to nothing far quicker than he usually did when he tried to control it.

"Sorry Abbey. I've been working on it but I still need some…mmmpf…." Heath said, cut off as Abbey placed a quick kiss to his lips. "I know. You do good job and I appreciate efforts." She said with a smile, chuckling at the shocked look on her boyfriend's face. "Come. We need to be giving homes to rest of these little guys." She said, walking off with her boyfriend to start trying to find people willing to take home one of the vilas.

"That was awfully nice of you dude." Deuce said as Holt walked over to them, but Holt brushed the praise aside. "I didn't need one of those things anyway so Heath could have it. It'll keep him from touchin' my stuff at least for a little while." He said, Frankie shaking her head at Holt's words. Holt patted Jackson on the shoulder roughly before taking off toward where Operetta and Johnny were hanging around with some of the other contestants still messing around on their instruments. But Deuce suddenly grabbed at his head, giving a little moan as he rubbed at his eyes.

"Deuce, what is it?" Cleo asked in concern. Deuce shook his head, taking a few deep breaths. "My head is screaming at me and my eyes feel like they're on fire." He said as he began to rub at them, ignoring Cleo's pleas to stop.

"Oh, I'm dizzy too…" Frankie said, staggering back into Jackson's arms as she collapsed into him. But Jackson wasn't in the best condition either, the two of them sinking down to the ground again as Frankie shivered against him. "Things are getting colder too. I'm all itchy." She said, rubbing her arms with her hands as her skin started to slowly turn a familiar shade of green, the stitches on her limbs reappearing as she reverted back to herself.

"Oh…the fun's over." Torelai's voice was heard as she walked over to their group. "And here I thought I could have a little more fun. Deuce and Jackson certainly didn't mind my company…" Torelai smirked at the looks Cleo and Frankie shot her way. Jackson also didn't look too pleased at the mention of what had happened. "How did you get all that stuff out of your fur Torelai? Or get yourself dry?" He asked, his voice sounding more strained. Torelai looked hesitant at the mention of what he'd tossed at her but didn't say anything, prompting Cleo to elbow Gil. The water monster sighed but caught onto what she was asking, spurting a little water from his tank onto the back of the werecat's head and causing her to start scratching like mad.

"The kitty can't get wet, huh?" Cleo asked. "That's nothing new, but I'm liking the new addition Jackson." The mummy stood there with her arms crossed, Deuce's plight appearing to have ended. He stood there with his eyes closed, unsure if he had reverted back to normal like he guessed Frankie had, but unwilling to test that theory out. He felt Cleo angle him differently but didn't say anything as he tried to get over the headache that was still lingering. Torelai growled but forced her hands away from her head as she glared back at Cleo. Frankie had gotten to her feet again, smiling as she hugged herself in delight at being absolutely herself again. Jackson was leaning on her but had also gotten back up as he'd commented to Torelai.

The werecat smirked as she walked past them, waving her tail under Jackson's nose to get a rise out of him and Frankie. She'd opened her mouth to say something as she made to head off on her own away from the rest of the milling students but Cleo's jab to Deuce's side caused him to quickly open his eyes in shock before shutting them tightly again. "Cleo!" he yelled at her, but his girlfriend laughed as she pulled out a pair of sunglasses for him that she'd grabbed at the beginning of this whole ordeal. "Thank you Deuce. You're the best." She said, sliding the glasses on him and waiting for him to open his eyes. He did so tentatively, looking over Cleo's shoulder to see Torelai stuck as stone. "You're just as handsome with the glasses on." She said sweetly to him, Deuce giving a soft smile in return as he pulled her close. "And you'll always be beautiful." He said, leaning down to give her a meaningful kiss before the two of them walked away arm in arm.

Draculaura giggled and leaned into Clawd's side as she watched them walk away, Clawdeen snickering a little. Frankie laughed as well before realizing that Jackson wasn't doing so well. "Hey, wait a minute…" she said, looking over to see Holt on the other side of the lawn. "Why aren't you and Holt back together again?" she asked, easing Jackson onto the grass with Gil's help. She looked him over, not liking the bags under his eyes or the way he seemed to be struggling to stay awake. "Jackson, why aren't you going back to normal?" she worried aloud. Jackson shrugged before giving an answer in a sleepy voice. "Holt and I might just be too out of sync by now." He said, holding his middle. "He won't want to return but with the petal's effects wearing off, one of us is gonna get the short end of the stick and be a, well, like a battery for the other." He said, leaning into Frankie's shoulder. Frankie looked alarmed but Jackson continued to speak. "Guess it's obvious who uses more energy, huh?" he asked, sounding scared of her answer. But Frankie shook her head emphatically while Gil and Clawd left to get Holt and bring him back.

Holt was practically dragged over by Clawd and Gil, kicking as he tried to get them to let him go. "Whoa! Frankie-Fine's a Stein again. Lookin' good." He said as he roughly pulled out of his friends' hold. "You're not though." He said as he saw Jackson wilting against her. "But we're still two so this day keeps gettin' better." He said, Frankie trying to get him to focus.

"Jackson's not going to enjoy being separate from you like this Holt. You two have to become one again. Neither of you are complete this way." she tried to argue with him, but Holt didn't seem to be listening. "Holt, don't you even care?" she asked, hoping to appeal to whatever compassion he had that had led him to giving Heath his prize.

"Why should I care?" Holt asked, looking as though it was ridiculous for them to even be considering what they were saying. Frankie gasped but tried to push forward, despite Jackson's gentle touch to her arm to get her to ease up and keep Holt from getting angry with her. "Holt, don't you care even about me?" she asked, trying to get him to see reason. But Holt simply shrugged. "Do I have to care? I still want you with me and I was takin' care of ya." He said, Frankie's mouth dropping in shock.

"Holt. You'll care once it's too late and you've done something you can't reverse." Jackson said, looking directly at his doppleganger. "As much as I'd rather be without the constant worry of losing myself to you when you're triggered. We need to go back." He argued with as much force he could muster. "How long do you think we'll last like this without the flower?"

"We'll last like this long enough for you to get another flower." Holt said, no trace of humor in his voice. "I like being like this. Just like you said. So we'll find a way to get another flower and we're good to go – and go is definitely what I plan to do." Holt said starting to walk away.

"Holt!" Frankie said, pleading with him. "I'll…I'll go with you. But first let me make sure Jackson's taken care of." She said, Holt pausing long enough to turn around. Jackson's grip on her tightened as he looked at her with grief in his eyes. "See, girl knows the better man." He laughed to Jackson as he walked over to Frankie, reaching out for her only to have her pull him off balance with her recently returned strength and land next to her and Jackson on the grass. Frankie didn't release her grip on Holt's wrist, holding onto Jackson's in the other hand. "You two need to get back into sync. Just sit here until you're doing better with that and then we'll figure out how to put you together." She said sternly as Holt made to yell at her for tricking him into coming closer to Jackson. "Look, Jackson's heartbeat is picking up again just by you being near him." she said to Holt. "I'm staying right here until you two seem better, then, I guess I'll leave you to talk things out." She said, nodding to the others to give them some space. Holt huffed but didn't fight back against his girlfriend.

They sat in silence long enough for Frankie to be satisfied that Jackson wasn't going to just pass out on her if she let go of both boys. "Alright, you two need to talk. Getting to agree on something should be enough for the last remaining bits of the petal's effect to do its job and get you to yourself again." She said, cautiously standing up and placing Jackson's hand in Holt's. Jackson made an irritated face and Holt pulled his hand away. "Jackson…" she said in an authoritative voice, getting him to look at her with a disbelieving look. "What are you yelling at me for? I'm not making this more difficult. That's all _he_ ever does." Jackson said, pointing an accusatory finger at Holt. Frankie sighed, hand on her hips. "He's your alter ego. He may not want to open up but you should be able to understand him." she said, Holt snickering. "And you should know him better than anyone else. Talk. Now." She said, backing away slowly to return to her friends as they waited over by the stage. She was a little leery of just leaving them there out of her sight, but knew that her hovering wouldn't really help.

"Are they talking things out?" Clawdeen asked once she got back to the group. Frankie nodded and accepted the hug Draculaura gave her. "It's good to have you back to your old self. Not that you being human made any difference in our friendship, but there's nothing like you being you." She said, Frankie smiling.

"That's true. It was an amazing experience, but I'm only comfortable in my own skin." She said, laughing as she adjusted one of the stitched in her wrist. "It was interesting to feel, not so…loose I guess is the best way to describe it with how sometimes things can just come detached….but that's just who I am. Shouldn't have tried to change that in the first place – but I was just curious" She said as they waited for their remaining friends to return, Heath and Abbey still working to get rid of the last remaining creatures Heath had brought to the school with Cleo and Deuce's help. She fidgeted as she fought the urge to go check on her boyfriend, but her friends' kept her distracted by talking about Ghoulia's trip and filling her in on all that had happened during their day. It wasn't a secret that they all were worried about what might happen to Jackson's half if Holt decided not to play nice. But eventually Holt returned to the group, Frankie rushing over to him.

"Everything alright?" she asked him, but Holt gave another noncommittal shrug. "Jackson's gone. I did my best." He said, Frankie's eyes widening at his words. She made to rush past him but Holt caught her arm. "Luckily, it was enough. We're whole again." He said, Frankie sighing in relief and collapsing into Holt's chest.

"Holt, that wasn't funny." She said, but Holt laughed anyway. "I wasn't trying to be funny. It was the truth." He said through a smile, Frankie giving him a light smack to his arm. The others waved to them as they broke away to head home now that everything was back to the closest version of normal they could get. Holt wrapped an arm around Frankie as they walked slowly around the school grounds, making their way to the front of the building. "I'm surprised the petal lasted through the whole show. Jackson didn't think it would." She said, leaning into her boyfriend's hold. "You aren't lying, right? You didn't just take off did you?" she said, stopping and looking over her shoulder as though half-expecting Jackson to come crawling over to them. Holt made a face of mock insult. "Frankie! You don't trust me?" he asked, Frankie rolling her eyes. "I trust you Holt. But you said it yourself – you have a tendency to lie every now and then…" she teased him but relaxed more when he didn't outright come out with some excuse that would have clued her into the fact that he was up to something.

"Gotta admit I do feel more like, well, less cold." He said, Frankie laughing. "Holt, you're more elemental than when you are Jackson. I don't know if cold is what I'd describe you as." She said, sitting on the steps next to him. "But I get what you're saying. You can get…a little….um….harsh, but you weren't caring about anything. That's not you at all." She said as he gave her a fond look. "I always care about you, even with that petal blockin' things." He said, kissing her cheek. "And I still couldn't keep myself away from you." He said. Frankie rolled her eyes and took a deep breath before commenting. "I know. You were more touchy-feely than normal. But I wasn't helping – it felt so different as a human, with some things heightened in certain ways and others dulled in other areas. But you are a good kisser." She said, Holt laughing and leaning in to give her a kiss. "Even Torelai knows that." She grumbled as they pulled away, Holt dropping his head back and groaning.

"Frankie. That was Jackson…" he began to say but Frankie laughed. "And you are Jackson too. Technically, you got kissed by Torelai today too." she teased, having made her own peace with that and laughing at the disgusted look on Holt's face as he realized that too. "Well then I better do something to fix that." He said, leaning in for another kiss that Frankie happily returned. A beeping noise was heard and Holt looked down to realize that with the way things had been going that day, he hadn't actually bothered to charge his phone. He grimaced as he looked to Frankie, a flash of fire leaving her with Jackson on the steps. Frankie smiled at him before hurrying to catch him as he slumped backwards, putting her hand on the back of his head so he wouldn't hit it.

"Whoa! Jackson!" she said, shaking him a little to get him to open his eyes. The strain on both of his personalities as they wore themselves out during the day seemed to be taking its toll on him like he warned her, his usual tired state after a particularly long or strenuous period as Holt seeming to pale in comparison to this time. "Jackson…." she called out to him with a little irritation in her voice before becoming concerned over his state. She huffed as it seemed that he was going to take a little longer before coming back into awareness, probably more disoriented than usual. She took the time to look him over, making sure he was really just exhausted and leaned against him, hearing his slow heartbeat that told her he was still very much exhausted.

"Everything alright Miss Stein?" Headmistress Bloodgood asked, her voice startling Frankie into pulling away from cuddling with her boyfriend. The headless woman raised an eyebrow at them and Frankie sheepishly smiled.

"Oh, um, he's just _really_ tired after going through all that Holt and he did." Frankie said. "I was just, waiting for him to wake up. He wasn't feeling too good before he got put back together. I was just…um…worried." She rambled, wringing her hands nervously as she spoke to her headmistress. The woman placed her head back onto her shoulders and walked closer to Jackson, looking him over herself.

"I'm not surprised he's out like this. His mother did say to look out for some long spells of sleep if his alter ego got too carried away." She said, not appearing too concerned. "I'm sure he'll be up shortly. But you should both head home soon. I'm sure you're tired as well." She said, Frankie giving an emphatic nod in agreement over her own tired state. She gave a polite goodbye to her headmistress as she walked away, leaving her to dwell on her impatience for Jackson to wake up. Sighing, she took out her phone to call her father, knowing that Jackson would be mortified to learn he'd had to rely on Mr. Stein like this. "I'm calling my dad Jackson…" Frankie said in a sing-song voice in an attempt to get through to him, but her father answered before Jackson had woken up.

"Hi dad. Could you come pick me up?" she asked, shaking Jackson a couple of times. "What? No. Jackson didn't leave me here. He's actually…well… he's not exactly up to driving me home right now. He probably needs a ride too." she said, wincing over the conversation. "I'll be out front. Bye dad." She said, ending the call and leaning back onto the steps again. Turning to her sleeping boyfriend, she nudged him again. She debated on whether or not to give him a small shock, but thought better of it after having experienced how unpleasant it could be if she overdid it. "Come on Sleeping Beauty. We're not doing this again." She said, sighing in relief when she got at least a moan of protest that time. But her father hadn't been kidding that he'd be there in five minutes to get her, Frankie spotting his car coming down the drive. She turned to Jackson and shook him again, not willing to actually try and slap him to get him to wake up. "Come on Jackson. You really need to get up." She said, Jackson blearily opening his eyes at her efforts, looking around in confusion at where he was while she waved to her father. Jackson tried to pull himself up more into a sitting position, rubbing his face to get the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hi baby girl. Time to go." Frankie's father said as he got out of the car to walk over to her and give her a hug, a blush at the nickname forming on Frankie's face. She helped Jackson stand up, leaning on the railing. "Hello Jackson. You need a ride?" he asked, but Jackson shook his head. "No sir, thank you though." He said, always trying to be polite around Frankie's father. Jackson brushed off Frankie's hand as he gave a small wave to Mr. Stein, attempting to take a small step away but sagging a little as the typical dizziness from waking up after a transformation and the exhaustion caught up with him. Frankie tried to help him, but Mr. Stein caught Jackson with one hand and righted him. "Jackson. You're the smart half. You're not up to driving right now. I'll take you home." He said, not letting him go and guiding him toward the backseat of his car. "No. You get in the front." He said to Frankie as he helped Jackson into the back. Jackson mumbled an embarrassed thanks to Mr. Stein as he sagged into the seat, falling asleep again shortly after they started to drive away.

"Rough day?" Mr. Stein asked as he looked at Jackson in the rearview mirror, the boy's head periodically falling forward and he would try to keep himself awake. Frankie nodded as she looked back at her sleepy boyfriend. "Yeah…we got a little carried away in the mad science lab." She said by way of explanation, not willing to divulge her experimentation with the lotus petal. That wasn't going to cut it for very long with her father, but he didn't seem to press for more answers. He pulled up in front of Jackson's house, telling Frankie to wait in the car.

"Dad. He's my boyfriend. He's not going to do any 'funny business' except try and maintain his balance." She argued, getting out of the car against his wishes and pushing him aside to wake Jackson again while her father rang the doorbell. "They're not home yet." Jackson said in answer to Mr. Stein's unspoken question. But Mr. Stein seemed to completely understand, having spent a little longer at the office a few times too. Jackson dug around in his pockets for his keys, complaining that he could stand on his own. Frankie let him stand on his own long enough to prove her point when he started to drift sideways, grabbing the keys out of his hand to hand to her father. Mr. Stein let them in the house, Jackson walking as though he really was sleepwalking as he automatically headed toward the stairs. He paused as he reached into his pocket, doubling back and bumping into Mr. Stein. Frankie snickered as she watched the two of them, Jackson stammering out an apology to Mr. Stein in fear of what his girlfriend's father might do or say.

"Jackson what are you looking for?" Mr. Stein patiently asked as he placed his large hands on the boy's shoulders to keep him still. "My keys." He said, reaching into his pocket again. Frankie couldn't keep her laugh behind her hand anymore and Jackson looked at her in confusion. "They're right here. You gave them to me. I'm going to leave them on the table in the kitchen, alright?" Mr. Stein said, turning Jackson around to head back up to his bedroom. "No, that's not what I meant." Jackson mumbled, shaking his head. "I meant my phone. I think…." He started to say, a yawn escaping him that he hastily covered with his hand in embarrassment.

But Frankie waved off his concern as she continued to laugh at her sleepy boyfriend. "Relax. I'll go look in the car. I'll be right back." Frankie said, finding it adorable how Jackson's eyes widened as he realized he'd be left alone in the house with her father. She hurried back to the car and found Jackson's phone, it having fallen onto the seat cushion when he had been sliding around. Running back inside, she climbed the stairs and headed into her boyfriend's room.

"Jackson. It's alright. Stop apologizing." She heard her father say. "Let's just get you into bed before you fall over, alright?" Mr. Stein said as Frankie walked in, seeing Jackson leaning on his desk and denying that he needed any more help as her father helped him get his sweater vest off so he could get more comfortable. Jackson continued to protest but Frankie's return gave her father the chance to just yank the piece of clothing off. "Come on now. Frankie, out." Mr. Stein said, Frankie complaining but doing as he asked, Mr. Stein shutting the door. "Jackson, we're both guys. Nothing can surprise me. I _am_ a doctor." She heard him say, Frankie feeling embarrassed for both herself and Jackson. She went downstairs, placing the phone next to Jackson's keys and taking a seat in his living room to wait for her father. In a couple of minutes, she saw her father coming down the stairs, a finger to his lips to keep her quiet as they left the house.

Getting into the car, Frankie's father turned to her. "He fell asleep almost as soon as he hit the pillow. Want to explain why today's especially bad for him?" he said, Frankie wincing at the tone he used. "Jackson wasn't really up to me grilling him but I'll get to it unless you can fill me in on what you two were doing when he was Holt." He said, Frankie nervously laughing before launching into as brief an explanation as possible. She waited anxiously for her father to say something, finding his silence a little unsettling. "You…you wanted to change yourself?" Her father asked, his tone making her feel guilty.

"No. I was just curious to know what it was like. That's all." She said, hugging him as they stood in front of their house. "You and Mom are the best parents in the world. I wouldn't change how you made me at all. Being human was interesting but I think both humans and monsters have to get comfortable in their own skin." She said with a smile. Her father petted her hair as he looked at her with his own smile. "Everybody has something that makes them unique and you, Frankie, don't need to change a thing. But you can be too curious for your own good." He said as he teased her, messing up her hair despite her protests. "Come on. Let's get inside. It's supposed to rain soon." He said, Frankie nodding. Her experiences were something she would find herself thinking over for a while, but there were some things that would always be the same. Her father's hold on her was one of them, Frankie content to let herself simply be just herself.


End file.
